I bought a pair of really nice sandals last week. They’re soft, flat, and comfortable. And is it just me or is life slower when you’re wearing sandals?

That occurred to me as I was walking home last night. For starters, I was walking slower than usual…though that could have been because I was quite tired. Somehow, though, I felt like I was more connected to the Earth than I would have been had I been wearing shoes. When you’re wearing shoes, it seems like you’re walking above the ground. When you wear sandals — depending on the kind of sandals, of course — you feel as if you’re walking on the ground.

At least that’s what it felt like last night (i.e. with all other factors combined). Still, I know the sandals played a part. Any thoughts?

Aside: My Relationship With Sandals

I have a love-hate relationship with sandals. Well, actually that’s not entirely true. I love sandals because I hate the heat, get really hot, and seriously appreciate the ventilation that sandals provide. On the other hand, my feet are — rather unfortunately — sensitive. That is, with a wrong pair of sandals (even slightly plasticky ones) my feet get ripped up — almost literally — pretty quickly. Yes, I have actually been wounded by a bad pair of sandals. So, while I love sandals (being barefoot in the library, woo hoo!), I hate badly designed or badly made sandals. Such is life.