expat shoes - photo essay

Several people were interviewed at their place of work, while others were interviewed on their own time out in the city. What the shoes said about their wearer seemed to echo what they were doing that day. While out and about many people thought their shoes would speak of being “ready for anything”, or “up for an adventure”. While others that were at the office were more reserved, speaking of style and comfort. This pattern seems to be inline with goal mode in The Meaning of Things, “Valued possessions involve outcomes in the sense that these transactions reveal intentions or goal-directed purposes; that is, they tell us what “it all adds up to,” and how these goals are being realized” (Csikszentmihalyi, Rochberg-Halton, p189, 1981).

Overall, it was a very interesting experience to talk with different expats and discover the reasons behind their shoes of choice. Not only do shoes say a lot about the person wearing them, their very choice of shoe speaks to their psychic energy alignment in the choice of aesthetic quality, attention, and goal of wearing a particular pair of shoes. The next time you lace up your shoes, ask yourself; “what do these shoes say about me?”.

Reference: Csikszentmihalyi, M., Rochberg-Halton, E., (1981) The Meaning of Things.

Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.