day eight
Yesterday was nice because I played cricket which meant that for a full half day I got to wear shoes. I never realised how comfortable my cricket shoes are!
Two days earlier I spent the day in the city attending a training seminar in pre-marriage counseling which was really worthwhile, but also really difficult – there is an incredible amount of asphalt in the city! And even though it wasn’t a really hot day, just baking in the mild sun is enough to give the footpaths and roads an uncomfortable amount of heat for naked feet.
It also really highlighted to me how easy it is to go through the day without even coming into contact with the earth, with anything natural. That morning I rolled out of bed onto the carpet, walked from the front door to the car over the concrete in the carport, from the car to the seminar over the asphalt of the road and footpath, then spent the day either indoors or walking gingerly on more asphalt to find some lunch… The only time I came into contact with grass or soil was when I went to cricket training that night (during which I was able to wear shoes).
It strikes me that we are pretty good at insulating ourselves from the natural world. Do we somehow equate progress or civilisation with conquering, covering, manipulating the natural world? Is there some latent belief that the natural state is imperfect, that in order to suit we have to have concrete footpaths, or landscaped streetscapes? That ultimately perfection is reached by us changing it…
…or maybe we place the highest priority on functionality rather than form or tactility.
Traditional funeral rites include the familiar words ‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust’, indicating that from the earth we came and to the earth we shall return… but we don’t seem to want much to do with it in the mean time?
What do we rob ourselves of in this? We would yearn for the sea/tree-change so much if we were better balanced in this regard?
Lucas T.