I have that book, bought it after my Mom died, but haven't yet been able to get past the first chapter. Maybe it's time to try again.

A monk on retreat (Pecos Monastery near Santa Fe) once told me what he thought the worms meant, and at the time it made sense, but you know, now I can't for the life of me remember what he said. But he drew from the collective unconscious, rather than on possible experience in my early childhood, which is where the therapists always tried finding the connection.

I also can't kill spiders, flies, or even mosquitoes unless they're actually biting me, and even then, I tend to brush them off rather than kill them. I used to even suffer terribly when I thought of all the ants I was killing whenever I walked anywhere, but now, in order to preserve my sanity, I have to block that out and not think of it.

It was a torturous childhood in more ways than one!

To me being barefoot includes wearing socks indoors. Its the same and your feet/toes still get the same workout. Socks don't count as shoes.

When I was a kid, after a rain storm that night my dad and us kids went out with a flashlight searching for nightcrawlers to take when we went fishing the next morning.
Never saw such huge worms till after a good rain...