77 Feet

The Assignment: Select a small and doable project that you will maintain for 77 days. Something you can do every day, nothing too complicated. Build the habit, strengthen the muscle. Look around.

The Choice: My feet. I take them everywhere — or: they, me. I can commit to snapping a daily photo. I’ve learned to trust them to make some decisions for me. They seem ripe with metaphor.

Day 1: Inspiration: Perched on the balcony stool, wrapped in a fleece, socks crammed into flip flops, inspiration struck: focus on what moves you, what provides respite, what’s always with you. Make it easy. 2022.01.01
Day 2: Circles: Our prompt was everywhere today. #MiksangInspired 2022.01.02
Day 3: Snow!!!! A big storm blanketed DC. With my bad knee, I didn’t dare really tramp around as I wanted to, but I couldn’t bear not to go out. 2022.01.03
Day 4: MRI Waiting Room: A month without improvement, so I finally got the MRI. Ugh – ruptured ACL, torn meniscus. Appreciating my feet all the more. 2022.01.04
Day 5: Back at AIM to record the annual report, it felt good to be back in a place that grounds me. 2022.01.05
Day 6: On the anniversary of the awful insurrection of the Capitol, I watched Joe Biden. “America is an idea that requires vigilance and sacrifice.” My toes offered up a little prayer for both. 2022.01.06
Day 7: Alternative Paths: Gingerly making my way in another few inches of snow, I stepped off the more beaten path because it seemed the way to go. Just the kind of reminder I was looking for from this exercise. 2022.01.07
Day 8: Cold weather calls for cool socks. 2022.01.08
Day 9: Lines: I wonder, am I toeing the line, or simply reflecting on whether I will? #MiksangInspired 2022.01.09
Day 10: Begin Again. 2022.01.10
Day 11: Sit Still: Must. Edit. 2022.01.11
Day 12: Not Today: That feeling when the doctor cancels because *he’s* not feeling well. #COVIDtimes 2022.01.12
Day 13: Rule of Thumb: Given the opportunity, take the stairs. 2022.01.13
Day 14: Lunch Time 2022.01.14
Day 15: Be a Good Do PT Bee. 2022.01.15
Reflection #1: Feet are both very expressive and rather predicable. I’m trying to focus on the image and transformative power of attention: the more we consider something, the more interesting it can become. Still looking for good life insights and catchy metaphors. (Anyone get the Good Do Bee reference??)

Day 16: Intent on the Craft: Spent a big part of this cold day warmed by my weather data visualization project. 2022.01.16
Day 17: Rule of Thumb II: If you can’t take the stairs, have fun with the elevator mirrors. 2022.01.17
Day 18: Oh, it feels good to walk in the sunshine. 2022.01.18
Day 19: #77Feet #6FeetApart 2022.01.19
Day 20: Waiting. 2022.01.20
Day 21: Not really a beach day. 2022.01.21
Day 22: Walking is my reflection time. 2022.01.22
Day 23: Texture. #MiksangInspired 2022.01.23
Day 24: In a museum! With a friend! 2022.01.24
Day 25: A ten-minute pause. 2022.01.25
Day 26: Bit of a chauffeur today. 2022.01.26
Day 27: MMMMMorning Sun. 2022.01.27
Day 28: The View. 2022.01.28
Day 29: Headed out. 2022.01.29
Day 30: Light & Shadow #MiksangInspired 2022.01.30
Reflection #2: This is proving much more intimate than I had anticipated. I like the “daily journal” quality and yet feel a little too exposed. But it’s a fun lens through which to view my day: what’s memorable? representative? beautiful? simply noted? with which of those do I feel like resting today? I like having it in the back of my mind all day, every day…
Day 31: Enjoying the Technicolor wonder of it all. 2022.01.31
Day 32: This, too, is a color photograph. 2022.02.01
Day 33: Your put your right foot in…. 2022.02.02
Day 34: Camouflage fail. 2022.02.03
Day 35: Carpe Pre-dawn-um: Weirdly warm weather = morning balcony meditation. 2022.02.04
Day 36: To market, to market 2022.02.05
Day 37: So. Many. Patterns. #MiksangInspired 2022.02.06
Day 38: Ant’s Eye View, or “But I don’t want to sit at my desk just yet.” 2022.02.07
Day 39: If Not P, Then Q: Can’t walk? Have tea! 2022.02.08
Day 40: Respect. What we stand for. 2022.02.09
Day 41: Darn! 2022.02.10
Day 42: Enjoying my fading flowers in the lovely morning light. 2022.02.11
Day 43: Cannot get out of there fast enough. 2022.02.12
Day 44: Color. #MikangInspired 2022.02.13
Day 45: Happy Valentines Day! 2022.02.14
Reflection #3: Okay, feet are getting a little boring. So now’s the time to really lean into the practice.
Day 46: Learning about VALUE and CONTRAST today. 2022.02.15
Day 47: If you change your point of view, you will see something new. #MyDadSays 2022.02.16
Day 48: Reflecting on the day ahead. 2022.02.17
Day 49: Smaller ball, same PT. 2022.02.18
Day 50: View from the iPad. 2022.02.19
Day 51: Transient: Impermanent Paintings. 2022.02.20
Day 52: Sky. #MiksangInspired 2022.02.21
Day 53: 22.02.2022: Palindrome & Ambigram Day – a day of balance. 2022.02.22
Day 54: “..and in that instant my soul was obliterated and I was restored, returned to infinity, to eternal and absolute space.” #YayoiKusama 2022.02.23
Day 55: Activities of Daily Living – not to be taken for granted. 2022.02.24
Day 56: Focused on spring. 2022.02.25
Day 57: Whoops: I missed a step! 2022.02.26
Day 58: I have questions. 2022.02.27
Day 59: You’ve seen them all, just not in one place. 2022.02.28
Day 60: Going toe to toe. 2022.03.01
Reflection #4: Well, damn, I missed one! Too distracted by new art and a tummy bug. Lesson (re)learned: don’t just think about it, do it. Also: a hasty shot is better than none at all. Feeling very grateful for my increasing mobility.
Day 61: DataViz Day! 2022.03.02
Day 62: Calling Cookie Monster STAT. 2022.03.03
Day 63: I might have been walking backwards at this point… 2022.03.04
Day 64: One leg at a time… 2022.03.05
Day 65: So many feet, all in one place! 2022.03.06
Day 66: They tell me it’s called a changing room…. 2022.03.07
Day 67: Sttttrrretttcchhhhh. 2022.03.08
Day 68: Street Wisdom. 2022.03.09
Day 69: It turns out to be surprisingly hard to photograph your own feet while sitting on a hydrant. Also: water #MiksangInspired 2022.03.10
Day 70: TGIF. 2022.03.11
Day 71: Sometimes you just can’t get your socks off fast enough. 2022.03.12
Day 72: Daylight Saving messes with my sense of time. 2022.03.13
Day 73: In honor of Pi Day 2022.03.14
Day 74: Green! #MIksangInspired 2022.03.15
Day 75: Feeling the sun. 2022.03.16
Day 76: Getting in my steps. 2022.03.17
Day 77: And, good night. 2022.03.18
Reflection #5: And that’s a wrap. This turned out to be a total of 141 feet (34 bare, 30 socked and the balance shod; inside and out; on the go and on the couch), reflecting the changing seasons and the rhythms of my days. I really appreciated the focus of a daily practice, even when I found it a little burdensome — perhaps especially when I did. I wonder what is next. And, finally: feet are a miracle of locomotion engineering – well worth a little more of our attention!