Well, almost 3.
So when I started traveling, I re-organised stuff and only few things made it to my 15 Kg luggage.
In more detail — Flip flops, a pair of trainers, (ofcourse). And black closed toe, Crocs, that could be worn in Asian rains and also clean them up and go on a date.
Luckily I found this perfect flat pair that covered my toes, could fit in socks for cold flights and basically checked all the boxes.
They covered Half a million kilometers
These three, walked me for perhaps half a million kilometers (foot, train, air, sea, jeeps, trucks, bikes). They’ve seen many weathers, moods, countries, dance floors, beaches, river beds, pebbles, tarmac, cycle pedals, monasteries, nunneries and — a few good men. 😉
Last week I felt something creepy underneath my foot and OMG the Crocs gave way. It surprised me as if, they had an eternal soul, ostensibly, like I did. 🤦
It’s not surprising, it came at a time when I am recalibrating what to do next. Like my zen teachers would tell me -
Was it a sign ? Or a sign it was.
I’ve been toying with the idea of working in some capacity, take up full time writing, doing a start-up again. Yes, the scars have finally gone, but why not play with 🔥 fire again ..maybe also settle & call someplace home.
There are many reason to work again — engage with the work community and build / erode some intellectual capacity 😂 . Who knows.
With most economies not going anywhere, real estate crisis, interest rates bottoming out... my retirement seems further down the road than planned previously.
Going back to where I came from is daunting. It’s not the work or it’s stresses that bother me… it’s the social set up that comes with it. To live in a city, engage with neighbors where archetypes are more important than real people.
It’s safer to understand the ‘sage’ than the person in front of us, and easier to ridicule deviation than celebrate it.
Anyway, at this stage of my life, the hunger has changed. The animal needs different things...
Coming back to the shoes…
New shoes weren’t easy to find, primarily because they had some large shoes to fill...
It wasn’t serendipity that they broke-down in the retail capital of the world - Bangkok - with no dearth of choices.
But buffets are meaningless if you aren’t hungry, nothing tastes good.
I made some half hearted attempts to look around. They say if you …
search hard enough, you can even find God, well this was just a pair of regular shoes...
As I came out of the 8 storey, 1 million square foot monstrous mall, in Central Bangkok, there are questions.
Questions I need to answer :
- If I want to stay for a bit, calls place home : I can buy more than a pair of shoes
- If want to work again: maybe get the old stilletoes out, if their soles have not withered with disuse
- If I want to still travel around and write professionally: then just replace the same model and move ahead quickly
Either way, shoes are never an easy question in a girl’s life
A different life, needs different shoes — ask Cinderella if you don’t believe me.
But not everyone wants to be a princess with glass slippers. Some are born King of their castle.
Born a little more badass 😎
