Sensible Shoes

Do you remember going "school shopping" when you were a child? It was always exciting for me! We didn't have a lot of money, but we always got a new notebook, fresh notebook paper, a box of pencils and a pencil case. We also got to get a couple of new outfits and a new pair of shoes. I loved school shopping day!

When it came time to pick out a pair of shoes, we always had to choose the "sensible" ones...the ones that would last the longest. Often, they were just a tad big, to allow for "room to grow." Now, I must say, the choices of school shoes in the 60's simply did not compare to the choices children have these days. The popular shoes for girls were saddle oxfords, penny loafers, and mary janes. I don't really remember much about most of the shoes I wore in elementary school, but I know they were "sensible." I do, however, remember a pair of shoes I got to get when I was in the sixth grade.

I can remember sitting in the shoe department looking at the Buster Brown image over a selection of shoes while my mother was getting shoes for my sister and my brother. My eyes were drawn to the most beautiful, soft gold leather slip-ons with a little laced bow at the toes. They even had a little, flat heel. They definitely WERE NOT sensible. But they were BEAUTIFUL! I could almost imagine myself wearing them walking to the bus stop and to my classes. Oh the outfits I could wear with those shoes! I picked them up and held them as if they were magic shoes.

Of course, my mother came over to me and saw me holding the shoes. I showed them to her and sang all sorts of praises about the shoes and how they were PERFECT for me. She said they weren't sensible and that I needed a sensible pair of shoes. She must have seen the look on my face, and in that moment, I believe, my mother must have remembered what it was like to be a young girl and really want a pair of beautiful shoes but knowing you would only ever be able to have the sensible ones. My mother bought those soft leather gold slip-on shoes for me that day. I have never forgotten it. Sensible shoes made sense, but my mother seemed to know that I needed a pair of beautiful, magic shoes. Shoes that made life fun, shoes that made you want to skip on your way to school, even if you were 11 years old, now, and shouldn't be skipping anymore.

Life is a lot like wearing sensible shoes. We work, we come home, we eat dinner, we pay bills, we do the things expected of us. We do the things we know we need to do. The sensible things. Sometimes, though, we need to do the unexpected. Sometimes, we need to break from the routine and put on our fun shoes and do something completely NOT sensible, something unexpected, something magical.

Yes, there is a time for sensible shoes, but there is a need for magical, fun shoes, too. If you have spent your whole life only wearing sensible shoes, you need to go find the most magical, wonderful, amazing, unsensible shoes you can find. Put them on and wear them.  Don't leave them on the shelf. They will make your heart sing and you will feel alive! You might even find out that those are the shoes you should have been wearing all along!

Happy shoe shopping!