In the wilderness I was alone all the time.
I never even thought about how dangerous it was.
If I broke an ankle or was somehow unable to walk, I would die out there.
I never thought about it. I went solo everywhere.
Later in life I walked on to the job site of one of thehouses I was project managing. I was wearing tennis shoes.
My construction manager gave me a scolding about having to wear boots. He was pulling rank on me on my own job site.
Some months later, a friend hired me to build several chairs to go on his porch at a hunting lodge deep in the Florida wilderness. I was alone in the wilderness for two solid weeks with table saws and circular saws.
I could have died I guess. But once again I just moved deliberately through the experience.
The same friend had me erect a metal hunting blind.
I was miles and miles from civilization. I had to erect a giant steel tower.
I fixed ropes to my truck and used the back wheels of my truck to gently pull the steel tower on to its legs.
After that with the rope still tensioned, I walked under the steel tower and fixed the legs to each other locking the assembly in place.
Deliberate, calm. Easy. Just moved through the experience.
Movement is the easiest thing. Deliberation is easy. Being present can save you.
Some months later, the real estate market crashed. I became upside down on a project and I was going to have to do something radical to save my company.
I found a small enclave of people like me on youtube.
They had framed their own houses by themselves.
“That’s CRAZY!!!” the critical side of my brain started yelling at me.
But I knew different.
It was just the thing I had to do. I would save a lot of money not having to hire crews. Nobody would be there telling me how to do things. I could hire a local contractor to check my work.
Crazy was going to save me. It seemed as if there was no other way.
