Why You Must Dare to Go Barefootfeatured

“I just went barefoot outside for the first time in my life,” my mom said to me the other day.

Her eyes lit up as she went on to explain how free she felt, letting all inhibitions go and letting her feet be free of shoes and socks. She’s also super excited to talk to you about how she went to her first baseball game ever.

Imagine never going barefoot in your life.

Imagine always being scared. Scared of letting go, of being free, of doing anything other than what you expected you would do.

I recently had a coming-to-Jesus moment….when I looked outside my window, I realized what I want now is not what I wanted when I was 17. I don’t want to spend my life chained to one thing – that won’t feed my soul.

I want to stand barefoot for the first time, time and time again.

I want to create ripples of impact, and that can’t be done the way I initially thought. It will take creativity, ingenuity, risk, innovation, and a whole lot of courage.

This used to terrify me.

No structure? No rules? No one thing I can cling to?

Younger me would tell me this is not safe, that I am being irresponsible and reckless. But this version of me writing to you knows better. It’s quite the opposite. I no longer need the parameters I once did because I know what I bring to this world.

I am an empathetic leader looking to replicate leaders and looking to lift others up by allowing them to see the light that is already alive within them. I was not put on this earth to be a dictator; I was put on this earth to enable others to shine by making their own sound decisions.

And guess what? I can’t do this by standing in one spot, by putting my eggs in one basket.

I know society has told a lot of us that the only way to “make it” is by leaning in safety, by doing the thing we were once told we were good at.

But what if we want to create impact across many things? Would we be doing a disservice to the world if we did not heed that call? If we did not take that risk? The biggest risk of all?

I am done playing it safe. I am done pretending to be “strong” when I am falling apart on the inside. I have been doing that my whole life, and it has left me feeling like a shell of a human, as if I could never bleed because if I did, I would then have to apologize for it and feel shame over the whole mess.

I now realize the real changemakers are the ones who color outside the lines, the ones who don’t follow the traditional paths, the ones who understand that the path to success is never linear – it is labyrinthine, with twists, turns, and double-backs. Every wrong turn, every moment of feeling lost, pulling you deeper inward – reminding you of the strength that already lives within you.

So stop pretending you are okay when you are not. Stop doing the same thing every single day, hoping that one day someone will discover how amazing you are. I promise you nothing transformative will happen if you stay standing in the same place, in the safe place you created for yourself to keep the monsters away.

You were made for more than what you even believe right now. And the only way to prove it — to yourself and to the world — is to step into the uncharted places, the uncertain ones with no routine, no roadmap…the in-between spaces, where the only way forward is the one you dare to create.

So take off your shoes. Go barefoot. Feel the stable ground beneath your feet again and again — be raw, vulnerable, and fully present and alive as you step into what’s only yours to uncover.

Love Deeply and Forever,