touch of soles

Excerpt from the book The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane

Touch is a reciprocal action, a gesture of exchange with the world. To make an impression is also to receive one, and the soles of our feet, shaped by the surfaces they press upon, are landscapes themselves with their own worn channels and roving lines. They perhaps most closely resemble the patterns of ridge and swirl revealed when a tide has ebbed over flat sand. Our heels have marks that look like percussive shockwaves. The arch, where the foot's flex is greatest, is reticulated with shallow folds. The ball carries non-intersecting ripples. The whole foot is a document of motion, inscribed by repeated action. Babies - from those first foetal footfalls, the kneading of sole against womb-wall, turning themselves like astronauts in black space - have already creased their soles by the time they emerge into the world. 

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What an amazing description of our soles. It is so true that our foot is a document of motion. During my childhood days I used to walk barefoot, play barefoot and run barefoot. With the kind of comfortable footwear available and are affordable (these days), we've forgotten to walk barefoot. I do not even know how many would even be comfortable walking barefoot. 

I should try walking/running barefoot for 15 minutes everyday. Just to feel that touch. 

Srik

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