New Shoes, Day 255

I'm slightly embarrassed in admitting this but the fact is I am getting really excited about the end of these 365 days and buying new shoes. I told myself that I was going to attempt to not purchase stuff/ things this year. But I swore I wouldn't buy one pair of shoes. I'm not a shoe fiend. I have several pairs but they're all quite old and don't extend much beyond a certain style. My dress shoes are extremely lacking. The fact of the matter is that despite my shoe ineptness in the eyes of this society I have several pairs of perfectly good comfortable shoes, while one pair of shoes is enough to satisfy the needs of anyone. Purchasing any additional shoes would be nothing other than satisfying want, craving, a desire to have.

About half way through this journey I realized that there is one pair of shoes I wear every single day, walking for about 8 hours. My work shoes. Once the cushioning behind my heels had all torn out I wondered to myself if I would be able to make it to the end of the year. They're plain black and my pants mostly cover them so the few spots where the leather sole is pulling away from the toe aren't too despicable looking and the faded black suede that's turned to dark grey in patches is mostly disclosed. But the insoles are basically smooshed to non-existence and the out soles almost have worn to the point of their being no arches. There's a small patch on each heel now where I can see that I've worn through to the insides but my feet do not get wet when it's raining. I'm pretty sure that if I wear my boots into the store during the winter I will be able to make the 365 day deadline without having purchased any shoes (work shoes included). But I'm honestly getting excited about the future date when I will be able to replace these well worn very outlasting shoes.

The experiment in itself does make me wonder though how very much waste we incur simply because we don't feel like holding out until every last ounce of use has been gotten from each item we utilize. I would have purchased new shoes long ago if I hadn't made an oath not to. But apart from the rugged appearance my feet don't ever hurt from wearing the old worn work shoes. They still keep me completely dry even in the worst rain storms. The above mentioned flaws would lead anyone, myself included to believe that these shoes should be replaced but in all reality they're still going strong. They're getting the job done. 365 days might actually not even be their deadline (even though I can't believe they'll hold out that long). How many things have we replaced simply because they were worn, looked old, had some missing pieces (but still functioned fine)??? Really, I bet the landfills are packed to overflowing with perfectly usable items.

I'm looking forward to buying new shoes. That is a fact. But I will say I'm really glad I've allowed these black suede Merrill to do their job so well for so very long.