The Soul of the Foot

You're the kind of person whose wound(s) are always smarting. What is the source of the pain? It's as if your foot doesn't fit the shoe of reality. Now let's say things are reversed. You are now the shoe that someone would like to put their foot into. The foot obviously doesn't fit. It's painful to both the vessel into which it's being inserted ( you ) and the foot which exists in a state of umheimlichkeit or estrangement. It's rare that a foot fits the shoe which is why "spiritual orthopedics" is a one-sided affair. But even though you have spent your life trying to fill other peoples' shoes, you now can be sympathic when it's your turn to play hard to get. As painful as it always is to be refused, it's always good to give people a taste of their own medicine.

read "Died Young" by Francis Levy, The Brooklyn Rail

and listen to "Soul Man" by Sam&Dave