Tuesday 20 November 2012

Getting back off track

I understand that some bears eat just about anything. They're omnivorous with a capital "O". With a massive stomach to fill, they're driven to be resourceful, versatile, and opportunistic.

I wonder whether a bear would be content to live next to a constant food source. I'm sure they'd be ecstatic the first time they found it, but if they came to rely upon it would they become fat and unhappy? Would they notice the diminishing of their foraging skills? Would they care? 

Who knows.


Three years ago I started working for a company that organises adventure-sports events. Trail runs, obstacle runs, multisport stuff etc. I knew their product from having taken part in some of their earlier offerings, and this seemed like a good fit.

Over the years, my resourcefulness has served the events well, and they've put food on the table. Previous experience borne from a constant hunger for local adventures produced some great work. But as the work/resource balance has incrementally shifted, the opportunities and impetus to exercise these skills outside the workplace has evaporated.

I became a bear at a buffet. I had a nagging sense of having been more active, more capable, more creative, more social, and in a good way, challenged.

So I left.


I don't have another buffet in the pipeline just yet. There's an immediate challenge to take stock, point myself in the right direction and see which new skills I need to develop. In the meantime, I'm starting as I mean to go on, by remembering how to run, to ride, to look at a map and forge a path, and to enjoy some time with my friends and family.

In the spirit of adventure, I'll try and note some of these things down once in a while.

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