Walk a Mile in My Shoes
I am not a fan of what one might consider "practical" shoes. Don't get me wrong, there are days when I wear my Uggs around because I just can't bring myself to wear anything less comfortable, but not often. My current favorite shoes are a pair of black suede booties with a small heel. They just seem to go with everything. But when it comes to a special event or I just want to wear something nice, I am prone to wearing nice heels or a delicate ballet flat or two. I live in a very rural area where the general consensus is that mud boots are acceptable everywhere. I have nothing against this, but it simply isn't my style. When people ask why I wear “nicer” (for lack of a better word) shoes, I just reply that sandals or stilettos are a hundred times more comfortable than pointe shoes (which I wear every day because I am a dancer).
This brings us to my story. It was a Saturday night a few weeks ago (the middle of January), and my mom and I both had tickets to see a ballet performance of "Cinderella" by a Russian ballet company. We both both dressed nicely. Not too fancy, but just nice enough to visit a theater to watch a respected company perform. I wore some jeans, a peplum top and some simple heels. The shoes were nothing fancy -- they just made me grow a couple of inches and made the power click ( that satisfying clicking sound when you walked. If you have ever worn heels you know what I mean). My outfit wasn't all that warm. It was the middle of winter, but all we would be doing was pulling up to the door of the theater, sitting for a few hours, and then jumping back into the car -- a typical theater experience.
I misjudged how rural the area in which I live really is. I knew that the theater was at a ski resort, (we have a lot of snow up here). The theater part was simply part of the resort area, where guests relaxed after their skiing adventures. This was not the case. When we arrived at the resort, the wind was freezing, and there were three inches of snow on the ground. Not to worry though, there was a bus that would take us from the parking lot to the theater (which was a considerable distance). The temperature was below freezing so I was a bit worried about my outfit at this point but I didn't mind because we would be riding the whole way in a heated and protected bus. In a shocking *note the sarcasm* turn of events, we were not let on the bus because we were not elderly enough. I can understand, of course, that the elderly deserve priority, but I wasn’t happy with the situation. Now, instead of taking the bus, we had to walk up a small hill slick with ice and snow, in the freezing cold, freeze on a ski lift across a valley then walk another half mile or so to reach the theater.At this point I was torn between screaming "Wow! this is a great adventure - walking up a mountain in heels!” and "I can't feel my toes. Where are my toes?".
Determined, I walked up that icy hill, took two ski lift rides, and crossed more snow and ice to reach the theater. The entire time I tried to distract myself with whatever came into my head, which was mostly "I bet they have done a Buzzfeed video like this" and "this is the next new viral internet challenge: Hiking in Heels". Despite all of this, the show was lovely, so I clung to that after the performance as I drudged back through the snow in my three inch stilettos.
At the end of the day, this was simply an absurd adventure. One I didn't even know was on my bucket list until I checked it off. Perhaps a new viral challenge trend. But mostly a funny story to tell my friends at school, and just a bit of affirmation that I am a very stubborn person, which I am ok with. So if you ever find yourself in a position where you have to walk up a mountain in heels, literally or figuratively, go for it. If that's what you want to do, you do it, and trust me, some snow slush and a few ski lift rides later, you will reach the top.
XO, Bella
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