Someone Else's Shoes

While I'm back in Perth I'm going to have to do "real" work 6 days a week much of the time. This includes days like yesterday when I shoveled around 7 or 8 tons of dirt and jackhammered a massive concrete slab in Perth's summer heat. I'm glad I don't do that for a job.

I was lucky last week to pick up a pair of steel cap boots from my friend Brett, who I've also been working with doing very fancy car detailing - www.sublimedetailing.com.au - cheers mate if you're reading.

So I've quite literally been walking in someone else's shoes when I've been working this past week. And I must say it's given me a new appreciation for my ability to make money playing music. (And it's given me blisters also today.)

So I'm going to write about this today.


Someone Else's Shoes

I remove my shoes
Shiny leather size 10's with a fancy material pattern on them
I put on someone else's shoes
Worn out steel capped Caterpillars boots, cracked in places

I wear these shoes
I do the work they're made to do
9 hours in the sun, working my body til it feels like one big bruise

At the end of the day I slump on a chair and remove those shoes
Dust and dirt falls around, all white and brown
I go to my shower and wash, then dress again
Clean and comfortable, my old shoes back on

I think about all the other pairs of shoes I could walk in
And what those shoes would be covered in when the day ended
Probably worse than dust and dirt in many cases around the world

But my leather shoes are clean and shiny
And in the cupboard are a dozen more the same
So many people only have one
So many more have none
And wish they had one
To protect their feet while they work in the sun

I realise that for most people in the world
A day walking in my shoes would be like a day as a king
The few shoes that I covet are just a small number compared
To all the shoes in the world it would feel like hell to wear

Or to have none at all, not one single pair

Perspective is a powerful thing
My previous feelings of being
Unsatisfied
Frustrated
Despondent
Oppressed
Fall aside and very clearly I see
That I'm very lucky
To wear these shoes and be me