‘The Box’ started with a question. It started with a question that I kept asking myself. I kept asking myself because I really couldn’t answer it. And because I couldn’t answer it, I made some rash decisions. Decisions that I still kinda regret to this day – nearly 10 years later. ⁣⁣
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I had spent 48 hours packing all of my belongings into the back of a Uhaul truck…and a major part of ‘all of my belongings’ was my sneaker collection – something I seriously curated from 2003 to 2010. I made sure to put my sneaker collection deep in the back – closest to the cabin so that nothing would get damaged (and it’d be hard for someone to steal) traveling across the country in the middle of February. ⁣⁣
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My collection was nothing crazy…probably a lot of near worthless pairs now – but they held great sentimental value. The first pair that ever caught my eye. The pair my mom bought me the day she told me she was leaving my dad. The first pair I could afford. The first pair that had an official connection to a person I actually knew in the flesh. ⁣⁣
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So I asked myself… 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚖 𝙸 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚜? 𝚂𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚝? 𝚂𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎?⁣⁣
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Like…what is the point? Most shoes are meant to be worn. And those that can no longer be worn – what are we supposed to do with them? Humidity damages them. Sun damages them. Regular life damages them. How can we preserve them as long as possible and to what end? We’ve all seen the pics of the shoes that have crumbled in storage, we’ve all seen pics of the shoes that didn’t age well, is the best solution *really* to just stuff them into the back of a closet?⁣⁣
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And the rash decision – when I got to California, I decided to sell everything. I sold them all. I sold ALLLLL of them. Even the sentimental pairs. Everything. I would come to regret that decision…