Kick Your Shoes Off and Enjoy the People

When you enter a Japanese home you take off your shoes. Here is the pile we stepped over everyday as we exited and entered the house. I can tell that Americans live here as the pile of shoes is rather disorderly. A pure Japanese home has the shoes all in a row, orderly and organized. I must admit I like the American twist on this Asian tradition.

I love that the shoes remind me of each person who wore them. Some are new, some are well worn, some are for warm weather and others are all terrain. Each shoe seems to exemplify the person who takes them off and puts them on each day. The pile reminds me that we are all in this together and no matter what we have each other’s back.

Who are the people who would leave their shoes at your door? Do you spend time with them often? Does the mess they bring in with all that their lives entail frustrate you or do you thrive on the chaos that is a family visit? It can be overwhelming when everyone is together for a short period of time in a small space, it can also be deadly quiet when they all leave.

Something special happens when shoes are piled at the door. My hope for you is that you experience the joy and fun and pandemonium of time with family. Be sure you work to live and not live to work. The work will always be there the people will not. Kick your shoes off and enjoy the people.