Insulating ourselves from nuance

This might sound a bit strange, but I want to tell you about bare feet.

Specifically, I want to tell you that this summer I’ve gone barefoot as much as possible, inspired by a piece of wow-I-never-knew-that learning, which is this: there are 200 000 nerve endings in each foot.

And I thought - Why would I want to miss all that feeling!?!

Here’s what I’ve found. Initially, every step fell into two camps: it hurt or didn’t.

But as my feet toughened up they also, strangely, got more sensitive, and as that happened the ground no longer became a place that either hurt or didn’t. I could feel more nuance in the ground beneath me. Because of that, I got more words to describe what I was feeling. I could go more places, physically and mentally.

In other words, my understanding moved beyond being focused on me and my experience to a deeper understanding of the nature of where I was and my connection to the place I stood.

And this has made me wonder about all the other ways in which we insulate ourselves from the world around us, and the impact that has on how we can relate to where we are.

Insulation might make things feel nicer and safer, but doesn’t it deprive us of information that could change and heighten our perspective and experience? Information that might help us understand, with more nuance, the reality of where we are.

Like the soles of my feet, I wonder if there are other ways in which we can be more sensitive and attuned to what’s happening around us. That’s what makes us, tougher, right?