It's all my mom's fault.

Well, also the tai chi lessons.  They were definitely a factor.  And I suppose I just like being barefoot.  But shoes never fit me right.  And Mom never made me wear uncomfortable shoes, so we're back to her again.  I guess it's a chicken or the egg kind of problem.

The problem, of course, is why I fell over during 5th period today.  I'm fine (not even a bruise except to the ego), and the kids got a good laugh out of it.  I did too, really, but falling over in school is not a good plan.  Not unless I want the "crazy teacher who falls down a lot" label.  I have "Crazy Teacher" nailed, but I could do without the second part.

Very simply, I was going to put some papers in my organizer next to phone, and my foot got tangled in the cord, and I fell over.  But at the root, it's my mom's fault.

I have excellent balance, and am extremely sure-footed.  But there is a caveat:  it only works when I'm barefoot or in socks.  As soon as shoes go onto my feet, I turn into a bumbling idiot.  Think Clouseau from the Pink Panther.  I have no idea how to walk, I trip over my feet, I tangle them in cords, I bump into stuff.  And I blame brain plasticity.

Brain plasticity has just recently been recognized as a reality.  Even as an adult, our brains change all the time.  Whatever we use gets more of our brain.  Whatever we don't use, gets less.  Our brain maps are constantly changing.  As a child, my mom taught me to "see with my feet".  I learned to pay attention to signals from the nerves in my feet, which means that I allocated more neurons to foot input.  Added to that, I have never worn shoes at home.  As soon as I walk through the door, I lose the shoes, so I have reinforced that map over and over and over again.

Wearing shoes, far fewer signals get to the brain.  In some people, probably most people, this is no problem for their balance.  Most people get their balance cues visually as well as from their vestibular system.  But I learned to balance in tai chi class, which I started when I was 13 and took regularly for 8 years.  In tai chi, you are barefoot or wearing slippers and are constantly focusing on your feet to ground your attention and energy.  I tend to do this with closed eyes.  I use signals from my feet to balance.  Hence, shoes are a problem.

I guess the solution is to spend hours and hours teaching myself to walk in shoes, but I really don't want to.  Although if I fall over in class again, I may have to rethink the idea.