Green Shoes, Red Hair

I wanted green shoes. Not just any green shoes, but emerald green, color of the year, the fashionista pick of green shoes. I shopped, I schlepped, I suffered. No green shoes. Oh sure…lime green shoes, forest green shoes, shoes with emerald green (ugly) trim, blue-green shoes. Blue green is not emerald. Are you color blind?

It amused me for 8 months. Simple things amuse simple minds. And sometimes we just need a change of thinking. I was beset with finding and purchasing emerald green shoes…to go with my red hair.

It’s a fashion statement. Like bling!

In the process, my brain had a field day with new information and discoveries. I found shoes that I hated because they didn’t bend in half and I couldn’t twist them. Your feet have a purpose. It is to put your body in contact with the earth and to move all the joints in your foot so the receptors in your foot send better signals to your brain. When your brain gets good sensory reception, you move better.

Shoes that do not allow your feet to move do not facilitate good overall movement. Would you put you neck in a cast and expect to move well? Translate it to your feet. Even Nike is coming around to what I call “flexi-flyers”, shoes that twist and bend. They are selling  like pancakes. Nike isn’t stupid; they have jumped on the bandwagon of a new (old) shoe revolution.

As long as I wear shoes, I might as well have fun shoes. Green shoes. Emerald green shoes. With my red hair. They make a statement. “Normal” doesn’t exist here. My colored shoes (and I have several pairs with various colors) start conversations. They tell strangers that I, perhaps, have a sense of silly. With the green shoes and red hair, I could be practicing to become a Christmas tree. Whatever.

Shoes, and my bling, are a statement about not taking anything too seriously, about looking for humor in everyday life, and about engaging my brain in novelty. Friends became involved, sending me links to websites that had green shoes. I created community by involving others in the hunt for this silliness.

Novelty is good for the brain. It creates more neurons, which keep your brain from dying.

What kind of brain games and silliness can you produce to lengthen your life? Even if it isn’t true (and it is), people who have a sense of humor are more agreeable to be around.

I think that’s Aging Intelligently.