The Barefoot Philosophy

Dont You Like This??

 

Sometimes, in life, we want the biggest, the largest, the best and the most expensive. We tend to forget the very basic fact that happiness comes from within and if happiness is seek externally, it will not be permanent. In keeping up with the Joneses, we always forget the very simple fact that Zen minimalist is also a lifestyle of choice and a simplistic concept of design used by architects around the world.

While it is nice to get married, we forget the huge wedding bill, the repercussions caused by raising a child and the suffering caused by death and separation. While it is nice to own a nice house in Mont Kiara, we forget about the mortgage and the heavy price tag that comes with the house, the effort needed to maintain the mansion and constant worry about security. While it is nice to drive a car, think of the amount of money that you need to service the car, fuel, parking tickets and not to mention pollusion from the exhaust pipe.

In essence, the more complicated your life gets, the harder and the more work it takes to maintain it.

There are many reasons for one to desire gold and the richness of the world and the purpose can be wholesome or unwholesome. Wholesome objectives would be to effect big changes, to fight for desirable causes, to spawn job creation and to succeed where government policies fail. Unwholesome objectives would be to use the riches of the world for selfish motives. You cannot be truly happy unless your mind tells you that you are.

With that, I present to you the barefoot philosophy by Zen Habits.net:

To embrace the Barefoot Philosophy, you don’t actually have to go barefoot. Again, it’s a metaphor for how you might live your life, and these principles can be applied to anything you do.

Light: When you’re barefoot, you feel light, and you’re not burdened by stuff. In anything in life, if you can be light, it’s a wonderful feeling. Think traveling light, or moving to a new city without too much stuff.

Free: Walking barefoot, you feel free, without the restrictions of shoes. The fewer burdens and restrictions you have in life, the freer you are. Think of how easy it would be to pick up and travel, or move, or change jobs, or do something with a friend in the middle of a work day.

Naked: Without shoes, you feel a bit naked, and being naked in public is scary. But it’s also an exhilarating feeling, and once you get comfortable with that nakedness, it’s kinda fun. Blogging can feel this way — you’re putting yourself out into the world, naked, and that’s scary at first. Doing anything different, where you expose a piece of yourself, is like being naked. But you get used to it, and it’s not so scary.

Pleasureful: The point of walking barefoot is to experience the pleasure of feeling the surface beneath your feet. The sensations are marvelous: cool, warm, textured, plush, smooth, rough. In anything in life, if you can experience the sensations of whatever you’re doing, this is a beautiful thing. Think of the sensations of eating, swimming, washing dishes, sitting on a breezy porch, lying in the grass under the sun, kissing in the rain.

Aware: Walking barefoot, you’re more aware of the ground you’re walking over — when you’re shod, you can walk for miles without really thinking about the surfaces you’re traveling over. In anything you do, increasing your awareness of your surroundings is a desirable thing. Think of walking outside vs. being inside a car, or shutting off the mobile device so you can talk to the people around you or pay attention to the beauty around you.

Present: The beauty of walking barefoot is that it brings you back to the present moment. It’s hard to be stuck in a perceived slight by someone else earlier in the day, or worry about what might happen later in the day, when you are walking barefoot. In anything you do, if you can stay in the present moment, you will experience life to the fullest, will be less likely to be stuck in anger or consumed by worry or stressed by coming events.

Non-conformist: One of the hardest things about walking barefoot isn’t the temperature or possible pain of pebbles, it’s the non-conformity of it all — it’s being worried that others will think you’re a dork, or homeless, or some kind of dangerous radical. And yet, I’ve learned to embrace my non-conformist side, to relish in being a bit different, to be proud I’m not one of the sheep. There’s nothing wrong with bucking societal norms, if it’s for good reason.

Non-consumerist: The shoe companies would hate it if there were a major barefoot movement, because they’re no product they could sell you as a solution. This isn’t true of environmentalism — there are tons of green products that are making millions of dollars for corporations. I believe in ditching shoes like I believe in ditching any kind of product that you buy as a solution to life’s problems. Life is better with less, not more, and when you think of yourself as a human rather than a consumer, you’re breaking free from the endless cycle of earning and buying and using up.