Barefoot, Bullsh*t, and the Courage to Live Free

You may not understand why I live barefoot 24/7 and travel the planet without shoes. And that’s okay. This isn’t about convincing you to kick off your shoes and never look back. It’s about something bigger — it’s about freedom, alignment, and the courage to design a life by you, for you.

Because here’s the thing: standing up for my barefoot rights is not just about me. It’s about all the humans who, throughout history, were shamed, colonized, or forced to abandon their cultural practices. They were labeled “savages” for living in harmony with the earth, their beliefs stamped out by organized religion and systems of control. Compared to what they endured, my barefoot journey may seem small — but it represents a ripple of the same rebellion. A refusal to keep playing by rules written in ignorance.

And before anyone assumes this is some quirky lifestyle choice — it’s not. I am barefoot for religious reasons, fully protected under constitutionally protected religious freedom in the United States. The law doesn’t require churches, temples, or spiritual beliefs to look one specific way to be valid — and it doesn’t give businesses or corporations the right to override someone’s protected religious practice just because it makes other people “uncomfortable.” Religious freedom in this country does not evaporate at the gym door, the cruise ship gangway, or the front desk of a resort. That’s not opinion — that’s federal civil rights law.

I’ve seen both sides of it. On a 23-day Silversea cruise earlier this year, the staff and crew graciously honored my religious exemption. I remained barefoot on every deck, every dining room, every hallway. I praised them publicly for their openness. Then, months later, when I went to book again, they decided not to honor my religious exemption request to their footwear policy — telling me I’d need to put on shoes so I wouldn’t “disturb other passengers.” A complete 180.

The same pattern has shown up elsewhere. At my preferred gym,  LA Fitness, I’ve been barefoot for over nine years without issue. Yet in other gyms, including a newer one I joined, initial acceptance turned into harassment after a few months. Suddenly, it wasn’t okay anymore. Suddenly, my constitutional religious freedom was a problem.

Now pause for a second— because this is where it links back to you.

How many times in your life have you been told you’re too much? Too loud. Too emotional. Too assertive. You’ve felt the side-eye. You’ve been shoved into boxes. You’ve swallowed stories about who you’re allowed to be. That’s all complete bullsh*t. You didn’t come here to fit their mold. You came here to live as your True Self.

And here’s a little myth-busting Wisdom Nugget: those “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” signs you’ve seen your whole life? They’re not law. There’s no CDC rule. No federal or state health code. It’s pure cultural programming — a story invented in the 1960s by business owners trying to keep “undesirable” people (often hippies and poor folks) out of their shops. And like so many rules you’ve lived by, it’s nothing more than conditioning dressed up as shiny-shoes authority.

When you shed enough of that programming — generational trauma, societal “shoulds,” cultural conditioning — you come into alignment with your True Self. And that’s when you truly start to give zero f*cks.

Giving zero f*cks doesn’t mean you stop standing up for your rights. It doesn’t mean you’re rude or disrespectful. It means you finally have the courage to live a life that’s yours. By you, for you. Whether that looks like going barefoot, not wearing makeup, burning your bras, or saying “Hell no” to corporate policies that try to keep you small.

So no, you don’t need to understand my barefoot life. What I wish for you is this:
To shed the stories that aren’t yours.
To design a life in alignment with your True Self.
To love yourself and others unconditionally.
To find an inner peace that ripples out to everyone you meet.
To stand up against the boxes, bullies, and the bullsh*t.

Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about me being barefoot. It’s about you remembering that you never needed permission to live as your whole, untamed, wild badass self.

If you are interested in learning more about barefoot, I invite you to explore the new “Barefoot Den” right here, right now.

I love all you people.
Love and ((HUGS)),
Laura