Have you ever looked down at your feet and thought, “Yep, I’m an animal”? I know! It happens to me all the time, too. I’ll be sitting at my desk typing away, thinking complex, consequential thoughts when abruptly I’ll look down to make sure I’m hitting the right key on the keyboard and suddenly, I catch a glimpse of one of those animalistic five digit extremities.

Have you ever looked down at your feet and thought, “Yep, I’m an animal”?

Then I have to break from writing to take a closer look. “Wow, toes are really weird,” I exclaim to myself. “Why do they bend that way unflexed?” I’ll pontificate. “Weird! Wait, let me have a closer look!” I’ll prop a foot up on the c-shaped coffee cart I keep pressed against my desk. Taking a look, I’ll realize I should probably cut and clean my toenails, and I’ll take an oath to myself to wash the bottoms more often; maybe I’ll even plan a pedicure every month.

I’ll start to Google toes. Pictures of phalanges (x-ray style) pop up and I’ll think, “Wow, they really do look quite bestial! Unbelievable.”

I’ll then get philosophical.

“Damn! I really am an animal.” No more important than any other, and certainly more related than I imagine on a day-to-day basis. Structurally, underneath the cover of human skin and denial, these phalanges look so close to some other paws I see regularly (and love). See photos below.

But, seriously, all it takes is a quick look down to remember exactly where I stand on the continuum of life on earth. I stand in a tiny, infinitesimal corner of a corner. I’m a part of many other parts; a sliver of a slice of a whole. And to me, this is a reassuring reminder of the constancy of the cycle through which we all will pass.

Finally, I conclude, “I should recycle more…and consume less…and save every freaking animal that needs saving.” Oh, and I’ll wash my feet more often, too.