Soleology: How It All Began

I’ve always said that writers don’t write a book. The book writes you. Such was the case with my latest and greatest Never Trust a Man in Alligator Loafers. It introduces women to Soleology: The Art of Judging a Man by his Shoes. Judging a man by his shoes is something I’ve always done innately. Except it took me a decade before I actually put my faith into it.

In high school, I noticed that I broke up with boys for the very same reasons why I didn’t like their shoes. Perhaps, they were too stuffy, feminine, traditional, hippie, or just plain freaky. The qualities in his shoes that rubbed me the wrong way showed up in his personality and inevitably in the relationship.

After noticing this cycle a few times, I finally asked myself The Question. If the answers were there in the beginning, why wasn’t I listening? It boiled down to was an issue of self-trust. I felt like I had to prove to myself in the relationship what I already knew just by looking at his shoes.

Over time the sole truth became irrefutable. Yet it wasn’t until I started trusting my reactions to men’s shoes that my love life turned around. In fact, it started to go so well that I wanted to tell all women about Soleology.

But how do you write a book about something you just do? At first it felt like giving directions to a place I’d driven to a thousand times but couldn’t remember how to get there. That’s when I decided I needed to get scientific and give Soleology a road test. I set up a booth on the Venice Beach Boardwalk and advertised, “Free Shoe Readings. Discover the Soul of your Sole.” When I scored a twenty-dollar tip the first day, I knew I was onto something.

The more shoes I read the more I felt like I understood a new language. In fact, I consider Shoe Talk the fourth romance language. There’s Italian, Spanish, French, and now men’s shoes.

In light of my own discoveries, I invite you to entertain your own. The next time you’re on the move with lots of foot traffic, take a moment and consider men from the cuff down. See what information is presented to you. I’ll hedge a bet that you’ll be instantly attracted to some shoes while others will make you want to run for the hills. Either way it’s important to have a good time doing it. After all, the first rule of Soleology is that you should be smiling and saying, “Isn’t it fun?”

Donna Sozio
“The Shoe Reader”

P.S. Do you have a Sole Story? Email me. I’d love to hear it!

P.P.S. For more info visit me at www.myspace.com/donnasozio