Wait, you threw an axe? Yes. Yes, I did. For about a half an hour, in fact. I went out to meet someone for bowling, but decided to go axe throwing before I went home.
Why? Isn’t that kind of unfeminine?
Why not is actually the more accurate question. And no, it’s not something only men can do.
Why not take aim at a target and throw an axe…? Why not have the exquisite release of throwing an axe and hitting the bullseye? Why not feel your muscles stretch and pull and hear the echoing thunk of the axe hitting the boards? Why not feel the satisfaction of your body doing what you ask it to and knowing you have the requisite skills to throw an axe if you ever needed to for some self-preservation reason? Bears…Zombies…who knows, but if something ever comes for me, I now know I can throw sharp objects with some level of accuracy…lol
The reality of 2022 is that I am unlikely to ever actually need to throw an axe. However, the satisfaction in knowing I can, was something that took me by surprise. I knew I really wanted to throw an axe, I don’t know why except that it seemed like a lot of fun and one of the safest ways to do something dangerous I’d ever seen, but I never thought it would feel as good as it did. There was something deeply viscerally satisfying in letting an axe fly from my hand and anchor itself deeply into the target.
It actually reminded me of the time I went into the sensory deprivation tank. During that experience, I let go of all need to be physically present while I was in the tank. No thoughts about anything outside of the tank, no thoughts about my physical body or any responsibility for moving it at all. While axe throwing, I let go of all need to be focused on anything outside of my physical body. No thoughts except how to extend my arm, when to release it, and the amount of energy I needed to put behind the throw. No worries about what I looked like, how it seemed to people watching, and no responsibilities for any other thoughts. Two opposite ends of the spectrum, but two equally calming experiences in that they both provided me with an opportunity to step outside of myself and into a bubble of total awareness of the moment and nothing else.
And isn’t that something we could all use a little more of in 2022? The ability to step outside of the distractions of everyday life and just experience the immediate? Nothing getting in the way of the pure experience of feeling something completely and totally?
Duct Tape and Dreams 