When last did you take off your shoes to walk barefoot outside?
In September 2016, author, writer and speaker Brian Draper (briandraper.org) joined me at a conference called “Shift Happens”. This was also his first visit to South Africa (and Africa) from Winchester in the UK. That afternoon, just after he arrived at my house, we went for a walk in the park close to our house, as I knew he loved nature and trees. In that moment, he did something that has been etched in my memory. He asked if he could take off his shoes to walk barefoot to the park and invited me to do the same. Having lived in the UK for four years myself, I found this quite strange and counter-cultural, because for my entire stay in the UK, I’ve never seen anybody barefoot outside, in fact, one day that I was barefoot, two strangers independently commented about it! Nevertheless, I took off my shoes and joined Brian for a long, slow and soulful walk. When we got to the park, I asked him why he wanted to walk barefoot and why it was important to him. He replied:
“When I get to a country or piece of land I’ve never been to, I want to feel the ground and earth to anchor myself and to respect the context – it grounds me.”
Recently, Zane Lowe from Apple Music met Chris Martin, Coldplay’s lead singer, in Dublin, walking barefoot on the rocks. When he asked Chris why he walked barefoot, Chris replied with his mischievous smile:
“When you are on planes a lot, it is so important to ground yourself – and it just feels nice.”
How do you ground yourself?
I sometimes take organisational teams to a labyrinth located on Rustenberg Wine Farm outside Stellenbosch, South Africa, where we would walk while practising deliberate team reflections. I always invite the group to walk barefoot, to feel the ground, to walk slowly, and to connect with themselves and with what they truly believe. These barefoot labyrinth walks are not only soothing; they are anchoring and good for everyone taking part.
On our family’s recent trip through Namibia’s dusty roads and campsites, I also tried to go barefoot as often as possible. Not just because I enjoyed it, but because it reminded me to be humble, to respect my surroundings, to look after nature, and to step away from external ego expectations and identity conclusions – those layers with which we cover ourselves to try and be someone, often someone else.
Why is walking barefoot such an important ritual, habit or routine? Because it keeps me grounded and real, it reminds me to be myself, to respect nature and to honour a holy moment. In this way, I am more open to experiencing bits of heaven on earth, in any shape or form.
In the book of Exodus in the Bible, Moses was experiencing the burning bush when he realised the moment was holy. What did Moses do? He took off his shoes. A precious moment beautifully described by the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes”
There are many sacred moments around us. But to truly feel those moments and be open to them,
you might have to take off your shoes.
This notion made me realise a few simple things.
– We need to know what grounds us and find deliberate ways to wake up to this.
– We experience many sacred moments.
– We shield ourselves with artificial layers to protect our egos.
– We sometimes just need to go barefoot to anchor, feel and be real.
REFLECT
Take some time to reflect on moments that ground you. Is it possible that there is something literally or figuratively that you need to remove or get rid of to be more grounded?
RESPOND
Go outside, take off your shoes and walk barefoot. Then, reflect and make some notes about what you experienced. If you feel uncomfortable or you cannot go barefoot for other reasons, try to find another creative way to ground and connect.
Try this:
Next time, when you walk outside, take off your shoes for a bit, walk barefoot with somebody, take your time, feel the ground and reflect on your experience.
Go well, be grounded and remember to BeSoulful!
If you or your team want to join me for a walk in the labyrinth, let me know!
Please share your creative stories or soulful ideas with me at andre@besoulful.co.za.
We are looking forward to creating some barefoot (metaphorically) experiences for purposeful reflection at our annual Leaders Retreat (one day), called Christmas in November. If you want to know more, send me an email or book your spot at here.