Hello feet

 

I have just started Susannah Conway's Unravelling ecourse and taking photos of my feet inspired this post.

 

Hello feet

Looking at you there, almost identical, anyone would think that you were the same.

 

I have been aware for a long time that I seriously neglect you both, my feet, I take you for granted and curse loudly when you let me down.

 

I thought it was time to write about you both. I have often chosen my left foot when given the task to write about one foot over the years.

 

There are some amazing things that make you both similar and some incidents that made each of you unique.

 

My husband has always been fascinated by the unusual lengths of my toes. (It  could be said that it was a foot massage that he gave me early in our relationship that wooed me so to speak but that is another story)

 

There is a condition called Celtic or Morton toe where the second toe on the foot is longer than the big toe. In my case, my second and third toes are longer than my big toe and on both feet. I have always thought that this toe length issue was just plain quirky and extremely frustrating when choosing shoes but I have also read that it can change the way you walk and balance yourself. Is it possible that years of tripping over, slipping up and spraining my ankle are all due to irregular shaped toes?

 

I would like to honour the great work that my feet have done over the 54 years that they have been carrying me. They have

• walked my body when it was grossly overweight with little complaint,
• run me through through the streets of Sydney when I was getting fit and healthy again
• danced me when the music moves me
• trekked me through different countries over hills, beside streams and into places that are amazingly wonderful

I love the feel of different textures through my feet;

• the crunch of sand at the beach
• the cool of water
• the sharp bite of bindiis (burrs)
• the luxury of velour carpet

My feet are long and flat and pronating. They are huge by shoe manufacturer standards. It has always been difficult to buy shoes for them. Secretly I have been quite jealous of all those people who can fit into dainty pretty small normal women's shoes. I have also been incredibly grateful when I can find a pair of shoes that fit my feet. For many years I had to go to specialty shoe shops because normal shops didn't stock my size or I had to buy men's runners because women's shoes weren't large enough for my feet. I am only a size 10.5 or 11 (Euro 42 or 43); certainly not gigantic by human standards. Thankfully, now, I can sometimes find my size in a normal shop.

 

As I mentioned, I have felt that my left foot has often let me down and that my right foot has had to pick up the slack because of it. When I was 15 I was rushing into the classroom and tripped over a step and sprawled spectacularly across the floor. My left ankle was a little sore but it wasn't until lunchtime when I peeled back my sock did I see that my ankle was bruised black and blue and seriously swollen. Eventually I got it bandaged but this accident seemed to weaken my left foot. Whenever I rush anywhere, I trip, slip or sprain my left ankle.

 

Two years ago I was at the peak of my fitness having shed 36kg. I was running regularly and often. On an art retreat in the desert outside Alice Springs in Central Australia, I went for a run on a bush track and suddenly experienced excruciating pain in my left foot. For three days I hobbled on my sore foot, iced it and elevated it until we returned to civilisation. Back in Sydney the Xray showed a clean break in my third metatarsal. This put a big dent in my exercise routine and shook my confidence to run again.

 

Last year while travelling in Morocco, I developed a DVT in my right leg. It was as if my right leg said, "I am so sick of the left foot getting all the attention for misbehaving, it is my turn for a bit of attention." As a result, my right foot is now shrouded in a compression stocking all my waking hours.

 

So dear feet, thank you for carrying me all these years and I look forward to many more journeys across the world together.

 

This process has amazed me and I think that I need to reconcile myself with several other parts of my body. I can see a whole list of future posts; hello belly, hello hands, hello wild hair.