I must say that I was very intrigued by TOMS One Day Without Shoes awareness campaign. I have been wanting to buy a pair to support their cause of One for One. Buy a pair and a poor child gets a pair of shoes! I think that's a more than fair trade off for paying that much for a pair of simple slip ons.
I did a little more research on the company and their purpose and results and it was enlightening and heart-wrenching... I am a sensitive person and the idea of children suffering just eats away at me... I don't know if it is because I have my own child, or because I have my own child I feel for those children that much more.
The idea behind A Day Without Shoes was to go one day barefoot, the way thousands of children go barefoot everyday, and to bring awareness to TOMS' cause. Every time someone asks "Why are you without shoes?" you can answer them by bringing awareness to the children suffering and encourage them to do something, like buy a pair of TOMS maybe and support a child's need. I found it so simple... I do not think I have ever done anything like this before... and it was definitely more eye-opening and thought-provoking than I thought it would be.
I wanted to dress nice and normal so that people would not think I was just some weird hippie granola chick going on a walk without shoes...
I wanted to look like I was WITHOUT shoes...
It was awkward.
It was uncomfortable.
It hurt.
We ran a lot of errands today and I think enough people saw me... I got some stares for sure.
Nobody asked...
Except Aveline...
So I answered her as loud as I could so that everyone who was staring and whispering nearby would hear.
It made me think non-stop about children... and their feet... and how I have so many shoes and always want more... and they just NEED ONE PAIR.
We treat our feet so bad on purpose with high heels and uncomfortable shoes... if those kids had the option or any idea what we CHOOSE to do to our feet... it's terrible...
I was originally going to have Avii go barefoot with me through the park, but I couldn't do it. She is blessed to have a daddy that provides for her and she can wear cute comfy shoes every day. One child less suffering for a while.
I hope to buy TOMS for my whole family when I get back to California in about 6 weeks. I will not forget today.
Go buy some TOMS, support their cause and purpose... you probably won't regret it.
Edit:
I realize that TOMS is a profitable organization and I am not completely endorsing them, although I do think that if someone (including myself) wants to buy a pair of shoes, why not buy some with a good purpose! I recently read about a shoe charity that is non-profit as well. Soles4Souls. For every 1 dollar donated, they are able to provide 1 pair of shoes... so if you don't have the $50 to buy a pair of TOMS but still want to support a great cause, donate 1, 5, 10, or 50 bucks and support those out there who are less fortunate. I did this whole barefoot experience to bring awareness to a cause and by doing so I made myself more aware!
I did a little more research on the company and their purpose and results and it was enlightening and heart-wrenching... I am a sensitive person and the idea of children suffering just eats away at me... I don't know if it is because I have my own child, or because I have my own child I feel for those children that much more.
The idea behind A Day Without Shoes was to go one day barefoot, the way thousands of children go barefoot everyday, and to bring awareness to TOMS' cause. Every time someone asks "Why are you without shoes?" you can answer them by bringing awareness to the children suffering and encourage them to do something, like buy a pair of TOMS maybe and support a child's need. I found it so simple... I do not think I have ever done anything like this before... and it was definitely more eye-opening and thought-provoking than I thought it would be.
I wanted to look like I was WITHOUT shoes...
It was awkward.
It was uncomfortable.
It hurt.
We ran a lot of errands today and I think enough people saw me... I got some stares for sure.
Nobody asked...
Except Aveline...
So I answered her as loud as I could so that everyone who was staring and whispering nearby would hear.
It made me think non-stop about children... and their feet... and how I have so many shoes and always want more... and they just NEED ONE PAIR.
We treat our feet so bad on purpose with high heels and uncomfortable shoes... if those kids had the option or any idea what we CHOOSE to do to our feet... it's terrible...
I hope to buy TOMS for my whole family when I get back to California in about 6 weeks. I will not forget today.
Go buy some TOMS, support their cause and purpose... you probably won't regret it.
Edit:
I realize that TOMS is a profitable organization and I am not completely endorsing them, although I do think that if someone (including myself) wants to buy a pair of shoes, why not buy some with a good purpose! I recently read about a shoe charity that is non-profit as well. Soles4Souls. For every 1 dollar donated, they are able to provide 1 pair of shoes... so if you don't have the $50 to buy a pair of TOMS but still want to support a great cause, donate 1, 5, 10, or 50 bucks and support those out there who are less fortunate. I did this whole barefoot experience to bring awareness to a cause and by doing so I made myself more aware!
This is so cool. I didn't know about the barefoot for a day thing. I don't think I could do it; I'd be so worried about germs.
ReplyDeleteCertainly does help put things into perspective!
I didn't do this although some Sactowners did. I love your photos and your post about it. I do think you literally put yourself in someone's else's shoes, or in this case no shoes, and gain more compassion for those less fortunate than we are.
ReplyDelete