Reconnecting with nature
Relative newbie here. This weekend, on a whim, I dropped by a state park I’ve driven by countless times but never visited. I was in sandals and had no intention of a hike, but the weather was beautiful and the forest was coming alive, so I started down a gentle trail.
It became pretty clear I had the wrong footwear, but when I came upon a shallow stream crossing the trail, I wondered if maybe the problem wasn’t too little footwear, but too much. I slipped off my sandals to cross the water, and decided to see if I could carry on barefoot.
It was a lot easier than I expected, and felt freeing. There were sections of pea gravel that didn’t feel great, but by and large it was bare dirt, larger smooth rocks, lots of fallen leaves from autumn, and my favorite (first photo), moss. I felt a lot more in touch with nature—like I was a part of it rather than an intruder trodding all over it—and like my steps on the trail were much gentler on the mosses and small plants sometimes in the midst of the trail.
I felt very self-conscious, as if I were doing something outrageous that demanded an explanation, but I ended up not encountering anyone at all on this walk. This is something I’ll need to work on. That and the bits of gravel infill… Overall, though, it was a surprisingly pleasant experience.