Happy Feet...Overrated?

The horses done gone and got themselves pedicures! Unlike me, they get their nails done every couple of months. 

I don't think twice about getting the horses' nails done, but for me to get a pedicure (or even painting my toenails on my own for heaven's sake) seems extravagant and a waste of time.  I suppose there is a good deal of logic in this:  my horses' "nails" are their feet and do the job of supporting some 1500 pounds on knobby kneed, lanky legs.  If their nails aren't well kept, it spells trouble, not just in an aesthetic way, but in a serious health-related way.  I, on the other hand (or foot), can live a perfectly complete and healthy life despite ugly nails...heck, even despite ugly feet. 

Whether it's the way I was raised or the way I was made, I have considered practicality, frugality, efficiency, and propriety as somehow morally superior or more desirable than the alternative.  I have placed a premium on "being good" over "being happy;" doing "the right thing" (whatever THAT is) over doing whatever I have (frequently, without justification) somehow thought is not the right thing.  The result--the feet in the photo above.

I have had two (2) pedicures in my lifetime.  One (deliciously lovely) at Sister Moon Spa and the other at a hole-in-the-wall strip mall in California.  I felt guilty at the extravagance of even the twelve dollar strip mall version.   Even in summer sandal season.  And, oh how I  love summer sandals!

But, I am now leaning into, ever so gradually, the notion that being practical and safe, frugal and logical, may actually be overrated...especially in summer sandal season.   (Thanks, Patti Digh).  I am realizing that many of the actions and ideas to which I have attributed some sort of "superiority" are really just actions and ideas that were mine, not ones that were somehow objectively or morally superior.  Don't get me wrong, I still very much believe in principles and in black and white.  It's just that I'm learning that many of the things that I once so fervently believed were black and white, good and bad, are not.  At least, I'm in no position to label either as black or white, much less a person's choice based on his/her circumstances (as if, I could be in such a position on most anything).  Historically, for me it has been "pedicures =  bad, wasteful, and money that could be spent on food for the hungry, college tuition for my nephew, nail trims for the horses." 

Now, as a result of my slowly loosening grip on the notion that being practical and safe and logical at all times is a morally or objectively superior way to live than the alternative, there may just be a pedicure in my future.  Well, actually, probably, not.  (Old habits die hard).  But, I will paint my toenails...



And, I will skip down the sidewalk when the sun is shining, and the smell of spring is oozing out of every sprouting tulip.

I will drive six miles to the grocery store to get the special sprinkles that I forgot to get yesterday (even though gas is $4/gallon) because life is too short to have Easter cookies without special sprinkles.

I will not cease bee-bopping in the car to certain songs playing on the radio when I see the car of someone I know rapidly approaching from the other direction.

I will mow the lawn in my swimsuit so that I can get a tan (through my 30-block sunscreen) even though the possibility exists that someone may see me and think I look foolish.

I will take poor photos and publish them here anyway.  I will write things for all the world to see, and publish without proofing, because if I did proofread, I'd never publish. 

I will live better.  I will love more.

Happy weekend.  Go do something with your one wild and precious life.  And savor this quote from a wonderful, insightful, and fun new author, Patti Digh, in her book Life Is a Verb:

"If I recall correctly, the death rate for people who play it safe and for people who live boldly is the same: 100%."