Musings....

[Woods Walker]

Well now. After 3 absolutely HORRIBLE years for my business this fall is shaping up to be a much better one. I still have a long way to go to have it anything even close to what it was 6 years ago (and I may never see it that good again in my working lifetime) but at least I may go into this winter with enough money to cover all our expenses. A year ago I was one month away from losing my home. This past week I sold two jobs that in and of themselves will get me to when the snow flies if I do all the work myself. I still have three other ones that I'm waiting to hear about, and if I get even one of those then I'm really set.

Now.....after selling those jobs, I was obviously in a good mood, but what struck me was that the next morning when I woke up, my first feeling was NOT that of stress and dread, but that of contentment and a postive satisfaction. Believe me, it's been QUITE a while since I've experienced that. As I pondered these feelings, it occured to me that these were the same feelings I have when I'm in deer camp and I fill my tag with a nice deer. You know, that of the pressure being off, and an almost eurphoric sense of all being right with the world. As I though about it more I realized that this feeling may be due to the fact that I provided for myself and my family and is simply a link back to our ancient genes as hunters. When you "make meat" after a good hunt, you knew that you and yours will be able to eat, and survival was assured....at least for a while.

Now in my case, this is my business. I make the contacts, talk with the customers about what they want, then I design and try to sell it. Once I sell it then we (or now simply "I"...as I had to lay everyone off) do the work. If you think about it, what I do with my work is very similar to a hunt. The planning (scouting), the estimating and then the sale (the kill). Hence the same feelings of satisfaction and optimism about the future.

Or am I over thinking this? Anyone else see a similarity or experienced the same? After all we ARE genetically hunter/gatherers, whether we are "hunting" financial reward or meat it's much the same.

[Deebz]

I like it Woods... that makes a ton of sense. I can identify with that feeling of satisfaction as well...

I had my wife (then girlfriend) take a picture of me holding up the back quarters of the first doe I ever shot, I titled it "I made meat" when I saved it on my cpu... I think the look on my face says it all.

There is definitely something about knowing that you accomplished what you've been working towards, even more so when your accomplishment has those deep seated connotations of providing for you and yours...

[Woods Walker]

I guess that at the heart of it we're not all that far from the cave!!!

[kellory]

"
Or am I over thinking this? Anyone else see a similarity or experienced the same? After all we ARE genetically hunter/gatherers, whether are "hunting" financial reward or meat it's much the same."

I'll go you one better Woodsie, The feeling I have when I follow amateurs , fix the original problem that stumped them, and fixed their "fix", is very similar to the feeling of returning to camp to find that the deer you dragged in, was the only one and everyone else got skunked. You succeeded where they failed. Priceless.

[shaman]

I used to have similar musings about the links with hunting and dating. I think you can make the argument that we are inclined towards hunting in a variety of ways and a lot of our daily activities either appeal to our hunting instinct or leverage our hunting abilities. We hunt for mates, hunt for jobs, hunt for a good deal on a car. . .

. . .and if you think this is just empty mental fluff, think about how we'd be if we were, by nature, grazers. Imagine life with our head down, taking in vast quantities of food and then having to lay down and ruminate. Okay, I guess I just described Thanksgiving, but that is not how we run our lives in general.

. . . and that's probably why hunting feels so good to us. We can't really describe it, because it's so much a part of us. It just. . . is.

[scottflesher]

Woodsie,
Simply put, I think your feelings are ones of success. You were successful selling your trade (thus yourself) to your customer.
As hunters and an admirer of the whitetail deer, I love the feeling of a plan coming together and "outsmarting" my prey.

You're feeling valued through success.

by the way,
congrats on the sold jobs. I wish you many more in the future.

[Woods Walker]

Thank you! It's probably just a fluke, and I will continue to live like I'm one step away from living in a cardboard box, but will take any extra $$ as it comes. You never know when it will stop.

HEY! I'm starting to sound like my parents who lived through the Great Depression!

[Sailfish]

Good to know you have the comfort of knowing your gonna make it through the winter.
I could no imagine what the stress was like not having regular income.


Congrats. kep up the good work. Maybe in Nov.....you'll have even more of a silver lining

[Woods Walker]

Sail: You have no idea of how true that statement is! I personally know of many people you do have money and they have been very tight with it spending wise because of the UNCERTAINTY. Hopefully that uncertainty will end this November, because if it doesn't I don't know what I'm going to do. I certainly cannot go on like I've been.

[Bowriter]

WW I know you know a bit of what I have been through. There was a time, I was not sure I would ever have that feeling again. Contentment. Being unable to even leave the house kept me from visiting my woods, let alone hunting. It was indeed a bleak time.

Then, a couple days ago, after killing a doe and a gobbler and receiving word I won a prestigeous writing award, I was sitting on the couch with my dog and said to my wife, "I believe I am as happy as I have a right to be." My exact words. She replied, after some thought, "Do you miss not going to the various hunting camps?" Her exact words. And I said, "Yes, I miss it terribly. But missing something and being content are not mutually exclusive. I also miss not having sex." I shall not impart the rest of the conversation.