When my head is buzzing and I can't find the present moment with two hands, I slip off my shoes and take a few steps.  The hamster wheel in my head slows to a halt and I hear a Lousiana Waterthrush's clear notes from the trees above my head.  I feel the remnant of winter coldness in the ground, realize that tree roots are slipping through the mud under my feet.

All of my life, people have told me to put my shoes back on.  I think that Thich Nhat Hanh would have understood, though.  After all, he wrote:

So take off your shoes and take a step.  I promise you, it's cheaper than therapy.

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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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