Barefoot

Barefoot

Tia Stajkowski

If I could walk everywhere barefoot, I would without a doubt. There is specific blissful feeling that occurs between your feet and the ground you walk upon when there is no barrier between them. It may sound odd, but I think a lot of people forget that they are connected to the earth and do not take the time to ground themselves to it because they don't see the point of doing it. Throughout human history, especially the last 500 years, we have been creating more and more barriers separating us from the natural world, and this has only made the disconnect greater. Industrialization has made us humans believe that we have taken complete control over the earth, and there is some unfortunate truth behind this, but we have also convinced ourselves that we are somehow above the system of nature even when we are completely reliant on it. A section of the reading "Feet Forbidden Here" states that, "our bodies no longer intertwine with a raw or natural place of habitation but experience the environment through the medium of machines". The incentivized use of cars and American dependence on them has further separated us from our indigenous mode of transportation: walking. The reading speaks of the difference between experiences and encounters. Experiences are mediated and, "the ego does not participate in the world," whereas encounters, "[involve] persons in relation to one another". The act of traveling has become an experience rather than an encounter in the modern world. When it comes to travel by car, a person is trapped in a box of metal and glass and has the ability to travel 100 kilometers in 1 hour. When it comes to travel by foot, a person is exposed to the natural environment (to a greater extent than a car) and at most could travel around 30 kilometers in one day. Many people's round-trip commutes to work are over 30km; how could they be expected to travel in any way but by a vehicle? But even then, the purpose of traveling is no longer about the drive, it's about where your car takes you: the destination. The reading states that, "the driver experiences the particulars of the world as a means to some end, the road is simply a way from one place to another and every other being becomes an obstacle to that end". I think that this mindset also arises from two of the primary values of Western culture which are individualism and independence, and these are more aspects that continue to sever our bond with nature.