A continuation of deep gratitude is a celebration of my feet. My feet that have carried me countless miles on my journey thus far. My feet: strong and sturdy, yet supple and relaxed. Feet are a complex structure designed to hold my body up and move it forward and backward. Each joint, bone, muscle, nerve, tendon, and cartilage silently doing its job with every step. Five toes to work together in the intricate play of balance and movement.
When I think of all the places my feet have taken me and all the surfaces that they have touched, I can’t help but feel my heart expand a little. Hot sand, so hot that I have to race across it to reach the cool water. The jagged and smooth rocks of the gravel road in front of my childhood cabin. The lush grass in the backyard of my parents’ home. The packed earth of a mountain trail. The squooshie mud on the bottom of the lake. The old growth forest logs stripped bare of their bark by the waves. A gravel river bed. Soft, plush carpet. Rich hardwood. Cold cement. Hot cement. Snow. My feet are my first contact with the earth and the ground in all of it’s forms. The variety of life is enormous. Each surface giving a different experience. Today I notice my feet and all the surfaces they encounter and feel grateful for both for my feet: their strength and flexibility, their beauty and grace, and for all the surfaces that I have walked on. These surfaces represent the variety, the fun, the joy of my journey on earth. And I feel eager for where else my feet will take me.