tags off!

After moving to northern Arizona, I felt obligated to buy boots. 

I should preface this by telling you I am not a cowboy in any sense of the word. Were the boots to help me fit in? Sure, I’ll take some ownership there.

But really, they’re just good to have on when working outdoors. There are all sorts of foot enemies about in this country: snakes, cacti, other pokey plants, biting insects, biting children, that sort of thing. Boots are a great preventative to injury. Plus they make me taller, which is always fun.

After purchasing said boots, I kept the tags on and walked around the house in them for a while. This looked especially ridiculous because it’s the dead of summer and I’m wearing shorts. I know, highly unfashionable.

Boots are not the exception though, I do this for every article of footwear I purchase. You see, I’ve got a tenuous relationship with shoes of all varieties. It takes me a good while to trust them.

The thing is, I’ve got some very real (and completely undiagnosed) foot issues. This has been the case ever since I went on a week-long backpacking trip in Yosemite and then lost feeling in one of my toes for about half a year. I blame the hiking shoes for this.

My shoe problems have persisted since then to the point that even when shoes feel comfortable in the store, they’ll become pain-inducing by the end of the week. It took me three total trips to a New Balance store before I could find cross trainers that felt good on my feet. The clerks were rolling their eyes by my final return. The struggle is real, people.

Back to the boots. Yes it looks silly stomping around the house wearing shorts, high socks, and boots—but it’s completely necessary. The good news is, the boots have been feeling good and I’m about 90% sure I’ll keep them.

So, why the long story about boots? This realization came to me as I was clomping about: many people treat their creativity the same way. They try it out, maybe wear it around the house where its safe and free of judgement, but don’t really own it or take it out. They keep the tags on, so it can be returned if it turns out to not be so great a fit.

I can’t tell you how many highly creative (even artistically talented) people I’ve talked to who will not admit their own creativity. It’s truly shocking.

Creatives, it’s time to tear those tags off and own it! It’s time to have your “first rodeo” and show the folks what those puppies can do. There are puppies at the rodeo, right? Again, not a cowboy here.