Yes, I’m serious about the ‘save the world’ part, and I’m going to explain the connection to going barefoot. But first, some background.

Our bodies evolved with direct daily contact with Earth, and all our senses are tuned to the natural world. Our eyes are designed to see the greens and browns of plants. Everything we look at puts frequencies into our brain and energy systems in a very direct way, feeding and nourishing our systems -- or irritating them. Not only the colors, but the curves and forms of nature are what our eyes are designed to feed on, not the straight edges of buildings. Sounds and smells likewise affect us. But the most direct contact with Earth is through touch.

Years ago, my body elemental and guidance told me that it would be beneficial for me to go barefoot more often, so I started making the effort to take the shoes off whenever I was outside on bare ground or lawn, even for a few minutes. I found that just standing on the ground was invigorating, like getting an energy massage. It was like Earth could communicate to me directly, stimulating and balancing all my energy systems – nerves, meridians, chakras, everything. The more I went barefoot, the more I found that putting shoes on felt like I was separating myself from the planet, as if the unnatural material in the soles acted like an insulator to block the energies of the planet from my body.

The spiritual concept of ‘grounding’ took on a much greater meaning to me. I began to notice that many people had grounding problems, even people who were very advanced in spiritual disciplines. The direct Earth connection was missing. It was not surprising that so many people were having health problems and unbalanced energies.

I learned a lot about bare feet from my two sons, who experimented with going barefoot all the time for a couple of years, a natural consequence of studying primitive skills, their area of expertise. It was hard at first, but their feet quickly built up their natural form so they could even walk on gravel or hot pavement without wincing. The soles got thick, but not tough and callused like I had expected -- they remained soft and pliable.

The reactions they got from others, however, was surprising. Especially my son who was living in a cold climate in the mountains at the time, and was going without shoes all winter. He soon found out that this really pushed some buttons. Seeing him walk barefoot in the snow seemed to bring up some deeply-rooted fears and even anger in many people, who proceeded to let him know that he’d better go home right now and put shoes on, that he would catch pneumonia, his death of cold, and all manner of things. He took it in stride and continued, knowing that it was just their unreasonable beliefs, and that if the native peoples did it, he could also. He remained healthy all the way through the winter without shoes, and he was outside a lot. The trick, he said, was to stop resisting the cold and just allow its coldness, and then it didn’t hurt as much.

This was all fine and meaningful to me personally, but it was during a trip to the big city, San Francisco, a few years ago that convinced me that the shoe problem was immense, and affects us all at a deep level. I have always avoided cities because their energy is polluting to my systems, and seeing all the paved earth and buildings pains me. It feels to me like Earth can’t breathe, because she has a large growth on her, which reminds me of skin cancer. I don’t like to be around this for long.

But I had to go to a meeting in the city, so I bit the bullet. I found myself near some very tall buildings in the financial district, and I went up to the top of one, then out on a balcony for the view. I looked at the buildings all around, with hundreds of tiny offices and people doing their work. It suddenly hit me that these people are totally separated from the planet all day, up in their offices far above the ground. And these are the people who are running the country! These are the people who are involved in business and finance, making decisions that affect all the rest of us! I finally understood how some people have been able to get so screwed up in their priorities that they no longer even care about the planet. They have no connection to her!!

So began my crusade for everyone to get out on bare earth at least several times a week. I believe this would produce far-reaching improvements in our world, changing the very fabric of our society for the better. When we are connected to the planet, there is no way we can harm her. There is no way we can put personal gain or anything else above the health of our hosting planet, who we depend on for life. The simple act of grounding I believe would make a tremendous impact on values and priorities, especially on people who live in the cities. To be citizens of the planet should mean communicating with her, not remaining separate.