“Remove the shoes you came on. Feel the earth you're made from.”

There is no better feeling than digging your toes into the earth and maybe looking up at the sky. Daytime or night. Clouds or stars. Taking a moment to reel in where you are and how you came to be there is as crucial as sunlight.

So there's this song called "Inland" by Jars of Clay. In this song, they talk about walking inland and what that means. “Remove the shoes you came on/ Feel the earth you're made from.../ Just keep heading inland/ No man is an island/ Come on home to me.”

Upon first listening, the entirety of its purpose seems to be going back to where you came from or returning to a place that you once were. To me, it's more than that.

Something so profound hit me as I listened to that song for the first time. There was something nostalgic, heart-aching, and driving about the song, that I immediately downloaded it to be able to play on repeat.

Roots. Everyone has them. Some try to discard them. Others cling to them for dear life. Being one part of a whole family, culture, friend group, city, belief, or even a lifestyle is necessary to being in touch with your humanity. Knowing who you are or at least how you got to be where you are today is something so simple yet so difficult for some people to live out daily.

Often times, all it takes is stopping.

Stop for a moment and look around. Who’s with you?

Stop for a moment and look at your hands. What baggage have you carried here?

Stop for a moment and look up. Why did you bring it?

A friend once told me that sometimes all it takes to get rid of that weight is just mentally saying, “Hey, I don't want that anymore.” There is a type of quiet grace in letting go of things that no longer build you.

Remove the shoes you came on.

Stop for a moment and look down. Where do you stand? What are you a part of? How did you get there?

Feel the earth you're made from.

Now run. Run towards something. Run past something. Run for something.

Run with wind in your hair and a laugh in your lungs.

Life is way too short to do anything less. People change. Moments pass. Relationships are left to fade. And for what? If you have a reason then stick with it. Believe in your convictions.

So I challenge you to find a moment to take the time to understand what is it that makes you, you. Then do it. Be you. Take the time to be barefoot in the grass. Then run forward. Run barefoot without a second thought.

Barefoot: my daily reminder to stay grounded in who I am and who I aspire to be.