Shoe mind

Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you.

The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong; but it is subdued by practice and detachment. — Bhagavad Gita 6.35

My favorite pair of shoes were once my custom boots rugged, proud, and built for endurance. One foot slightly bigger, the other narrower, yet I forced both into the same leather mold. They were tight, rigid, and strong. I walked pavements, roadside stretches, and long concrete paths believing that discomfort meant resilience. Those boots symbolized a version of me that endured everything uneven roads, harsh terrains, even harsh words.But time reshaped my feet.The boots that once made me feel powerful began to restrict me. The leather hardened. The tightness no longer strengthened; it suffocated. I realized I was holding onto something that no longer fit who I had become. I found my boots still in the dust with cobwebs as I still feel pity of the shoes I once wore.

I didn’t discarded them not out of anger, but out of growth and instead left them in the shoe cupboard unbearable to let go of my resentment. There is only one pair of feet I have — and they deserve space.

Now, my hiking shoes carry me.They are practical, flexible, steady. For four years they have walked with me through city buildings, potholes, curved roads, parking ramps, and long, demanding drives. The city terrain is not easy. The roads are unpredictable.

Yet these shoes bend instead of resist. They adapt instead of wound.As for the shadows — the imagined poisons, the whispering crickets in the dark I have learned something deeper. The real poison is outside. It is the mind’s reaction to what it fears is watching. Just as tight boots can injure the feet, tight thoughts can injure the peace.

When I changed my shoes, I also began changing my inner footing.The boots were about proving strength.The hiking shoes are about walking in clarity.I walk now not to fight shadows, but to steady my own steps.

When a man dwells on objects, attachment is born; from attachment arises desire; from desire comes anger. From anger arises delusion; from delusion, loss of memory; from loss of memory, destruction of discrimination; and from destruction of discrimination, he perishes. — Bhagavad Gita 2.62–63