"keep the earth below my feet"

 

i take a lot of photos of pathways

and feet.

 

 

seasonal feet.

it's not just a summer thing.

 

 

or an outside hobby.

 

 

i organize my instagram images by month

and every single folder has multiple feet pictures.

mainly mine.

no one else seems to want me to document their feet the way i do my own.

but sometimes i sneak them in

(these are Hannah's feet at a temple garden in Thailand)

 

 

 

 

when i go to therapy the first thing i do is take off my shoes,

when i walk onto the beach i fling them off and then carefully put them on a log so i don't forget where they are.

at the garden, i remove them and sink my toes into the soft earth.

at home, they are naked, tucked up under me on the couch

or when i sit on the floor cross legged under the living room window.

i will let my feet freeze in order to feel a connection with the earth, the floor, the solid foundation.

 

my feet ground me.

 and they are my center,

even though they are no where near my physical center.

i love that quirkiness of me.

 

i am keeping the earth below my feet

very conscientiously this week.

it has been a week of tremendous personal growth and opportunity

 with a whopping side of physical pain.

i am approaching my birthday tomorrow with more peace than i can ever remember

but i am still carrying sadness for my young birth mama as the hour gets closer.

my heart is empathetic for her aloneness, her loss, her gift to me that i am not able to thank her for.

today i am sitting with how to honour her,

  yet also celebrate the growth i have made

this past year.

 

my feet are bare.

i am grateful for the sun.

 i am spending time in nature today.

it is a deliberate decision.