Less padding, more feeling

Today, I’m excited to’ve learned that Vivobarefoot has joined the B-Corp community. It’s a brand that I’ve admired and used for the past 4 year, and it feels amazing to be part of the same community of conscious businesses. 

Throughout my journey to reconnect with myself and with nature I focused on many aspects of my inner and outer life, feet health and what modern shoes do to us surely made an impact on my worldview. When you stop just looking and start seeing, you realize how easily we’ve grown accustomed to comfort, virtually, in all areas of our lives.

I was born in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, with only 10,000 inhabitants at the time. Weather was indomitable, and you needed to adapt if you wanted to enjoy nature. Waiting for a “nice day” to go out hiking meant you stayed indoors indefinitely. So I weather-proofed myself, enduring cold, rain, wind. I became a rugged mountain boy. That all started to change when at age 19 I moved to a condo on floor 23 in the big city of Buenos Aires to study. Over the years, that connection to the elements started to wear off. Concrete floors, air conditioning and artificial lights started to numb my body down, make it relaxed and passive. 

Now, 20 years later, I’m on a journey to revert back to that wilder status, physically and emotionally. I feel there’s no time to cruise along or let others push their agenda on me, my family or company. It’s not an easy ride. Step by step,upwards and downwards, I steadily move forward. I came to realize that I want to feel the road, every pebble and hole, as close to barefoot as possible, to include the vertical dimension and feel my connection to Earth to boost my connection with the Universe. Feeling makes us human. And humans are social creatures, who need to belong, to be a part of, to share. This is me, with open arms and heart, eager to share the road with like-hearted humans towards a meaningful existence.

Let’s get rid of the padding. Let’s start feeling.

Ignacio Valencia Ru