From outside the box

I've fallen a little behind on writing lately. For me, creativity comes in cycles. I admire other bloggers who write everyday, they never seem to run out of energy or things to say. But for me, it's all about energy and that energy seems to come and go. Lately I've been dealing with a sore foot and I think my foot pain has interrupted my energy flow. If I'm tired, if I'm sick, or if I'm in any kind of pain, I just do the minimum in life.... and to hell with the rest.

Isn't it funny how 99% of your body can be working fine but it's the 1% that is in pain that gets all the attention? Every time a certain area of my body has a problem, it makes me appreciate how important that one area is to the functioning of the whole machine. If you live long enough, your going to experience little (or big) problems here and there with just about every part of your machine.

I've always said that shoes and mattresses are the two areas that you should never skimp on because you spend a third of your life on each one. I've always treated myself to nice mattresses but shoes are a problem. They are a problem for me because I wear a size 15 and sometimes a 16, depending on the brand. The reason my feet are so big is because of all my years of running in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. I was a mere size 13 when I was 30 years old, but after years of pounding my feet beneath a large heavy frame on concrete and blacktop, my feet flattened out and expanded to the larger size they are now.

I believe that everybody has at least one special talent as well as at least one personal challenge that separates them from everybody else. I have a few of each. One of my personal challenges has always been to find comfortable shoes. I gave up years ago on trying to find nice looking shoes. When you wear my size, you settle for what you can find. Whenever I went shopping for shoes I would just pop my head in a shoe store and ask if they had anything in a 15. Sometimes I would go thru the whole mall as well as most shoe stores around town and not find one pair. When somebody did have a pair I would try them on, and if they fit, I bought them. Often they were too tight. My theory is that the Asians who make most of our shoes can't really conceive of a size 15 foot, so they make them closer to a size 14. I know the logical thing is to wear a size 16....yea right, just try to find a pair of those babies.

The Internet has helped a little over the last few years. Even then, it can be difficult to find large sizes. I've learned now that when I find a shoe on line that works, I buy a couple pair of them because it might be a long time before I will find anything like them again.

There is one thing about size 15 shoes that makes absolutely no sense to me at all. That is the fact that 90% of the walking shoes you find in that size are bright white! It's almost impossible to find earth tones or muted colors. Why do the manufacturer's of large shoes think that people with large feet want to show them off? Your feet are already bringing enough attention to them just by being so big but when your shoes are bright white, they stand out like neon lights!

It was always difficult for me taking my kids shopping for shoes because I do not understand the concept of being picky when shoe shopping. I mean we'll go into a shoe store and there are dozens of pairs of shoes in all colors in the size my son needs, and he doesn't like any of them, he wants to go to another store! And I'm standing there thinking....My God, I'd give anything to have just one pair of these in my size. That's one of the reasons I can't shop with women, but since I wrote a whole blog about that last year, I won't go there now.

So getting back to my foot problem, I don't know what it is but I've got an appointment with a foot doctor in a few days. According to some Internet research, it looks like it could be a bunion. Some of the causes are flat feet and tight shoes. I got both of those bases covered. In the meantime, I will try to give more attention to the 99% of my body that is working quite well and less attention to the 1% that screams out in pain with every step I take. I will also reach deeper into myself to rekindle that creative spark that so easily gets doused out by a little pain. But if by chance there is anybody reading this who might have any connection to any shoe manufacturer's, please ask them to make a size 15 that fits like a size 15 and for God sakes, stop making them all in bright neon white!