Useful things I cannot do
Posted on August 6th, 2008 in On Manhood, Personal Messages, Rants | 3 Comments »
I had a terrifying and horrifying realization this morning on my way to work: there are a lot of things a man should be able to do that I have never done. Scarier still, I have never even thought to do some of those things. This scared the hell out of me. The next thought that came to mind was that I had better set out to straightening this out before I never get around to doing it.
So I began to put together a list. And the list got bigger and bigger and bigger. And as of this writing it is now looking like:
Useful things I have never done
- I have never shot a gun
- I have never shot a bow
- I have never lit a fire without an accelerant
- I have never killed or skinned a hunted animal
- I have never stayed out in the wilderness overnight
- I have never tied something down that absolutely had to stay tied down
- I have never caught a fish
- I have never jumped a chasm
- I have never dove into open water (lake, sea, whatever)
- I have never built a house
- I have never fixed a broken car, motorcycle or bicycle
As I began to think of all the things that I have never done but should have done by the time I was 16 I realized that my entire life as a man has been spent on other things outside of the necessities of a man’s necessary knowledge. Men need to know how to do those things on my list of things not yet done.
That’s right. As I looked on that list I began to assert my desires and intents as a man. I fully intend to do each and every one of those things on that list. Within the next two years.
And hopefully at the same time I will be able to test some other boundaries of mine as well. That was another thought that crept in as I was coming to these conclusions earlier this morning. I have almost completely lost the sense of boundary testing that all males seem to have. When was the last time I did something that scared the crap out of me and gave me the willies like never before? How about you, when was the last time you scared almost to the point of skinning out?
I long for that. I think. But I didn’t realize it until today. I need an adventure. I need to test myself. And I sure as hell need to put myself in a position of handling those things on my list. I say I start with hunting and move from there.