Page 196 - WDT MAGAZINE PORTUGAL

time there, Jody and I spent years telling
journalism students to never use such adjectives.
But it certainly was restorative. Which brings me
to the point of this story. It’s called “grounding.”
“Grounding” is the semi-scientific, semi-
mystical idea that the Earth is a massive reservoir
of charged particles and that people need to
circumvent most aspects of modern civilization –
everything from rubber-soled shoes to
electronics – and get back in touch with this
trove of natural, healing, crucial ions.
In other words: go barefoot.
Barefoot. It’s a word that conjures up a host
of childhood memories for both of us. Jody, the
city kid, and me, the small town boy. “Every
summer,” Jody recalls, “as soon as it was warm
enough, we ditched our shoes and socks and ran
around the streets of Philly barefoot. The goal
was the same each year: to develop callouses
thick enough that I didn’t need shoes by the end
of summer.”
But for Jody, “grounding" is more than a time
trip to childhood. She walks barefoot in the grass
on our farm in Southwest Virginia because she
says it makes her feel closer to her father who
died 11 years ago. He was New Age before the
term was even coined. And he “grounded” before
it was even called that.
“He walked barefoot through the grass at
Haverford College for years. What must the
students have thought of that old man hobbling
around with no shoes? But he didn’t care, he said
it connected him to the Earth.”
For me it was barefoot wiffle ball games on
the grass of the elementary school lawn and the
feel of damp dirt between my toes as my sister
and I jumped from furrow to furrow under moon
light in the apricot orchard across the street.
I don’t know if we were getting a flow of
unimpeded electrons or just good Earth vibes but
those innocent barefoot memories are still
strong. And so is the moment – it was exactly
7:11 a.m. – when, walking along Kailua beach, we
saw the sun come up over the tiny Mokulua islets,
just offshore.
Cool squishy sand between our toes, as the
tide ebbed and the sun rose. Our troubles in
Japan began to melt away, we were grounded in a
glorious Hawaiian morning. Some kind of healing
had begun. Things felt lighter. Maybe by
connecting to the immensity of the Earth our
troubles suddenly seemed smaller, more
manageable. Anyway, it was another “Oh, wow!”
moment.

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