I pace up and down a newly disced up field with a jingle of chert bouncing around in my enclosed hand like I'm a gambler about to roll doubles. The noise reminds me similarly of coins tumbling around in a pants pocket with every step.
Back and forth my eyes scan for the shine of flint amidst the dark chocolate loam. The majority of rocks I find are merely pieces of a rock deposit that appear untouched. Or they have been chewed by the metal of farm equipment digging into the dirt over the centuries. Nothing of value. At least to some.
The true value of looking for olden Native American tools isn't the find itself, but the journey your imagination takes during the process and the appreciation gained from a simpler time. Before there was true currency, the world traded and assessed value through products made from natural goods. A basket made of sweet grass. A buffalo skin jacket. Or the high-volume production of stone tools.
My predecessors to walk the same farm I frequent are similar to me in the sense that they saw intrinsic value in commandeering rock from the earth. The difference for them is that a smooth chunk of chert was a big source of their worldly assets. They could utilize that found rock to grow their wealth through craft and trade. Just like when we wake up on certain Fridays and find money in our bank accounts. Except very different.
I haven't quite drilled down the reasoning, but I find clarity and easier to think outside the box when I travel. Something about breaking routine gives my mind a permission slip to ruminate freely. When I find that mental space and my guard is down, I like to ease myself into the cool waters of what I believe is actually important to me in life. I won't soapbox you with my individual findings, but simply challenge you to periodically check your pulse in this way too.
The easy route is to keep blindly swimming downstream until you're aged and with wisdom. The more fulfilling activity though is to take a present tense audit of your personal ideals. Aside from the paycheck, what are the top pillars you deem as important? Your kids? Self-Improvement? Assets? Travel? If you didn't have to work, how, what, and with whom would you spend your time?
I'm not telling you what should be on this list, just that I've found it healthy to take a pause from my hamster wheel and think about it. It helps me perform a self-gut check on how I'm spending the majority of my time across my job, family, friends, and hobbies. Whether it's a quick trip to silence or mentally perusing a field for rocks, give yourself some slow time to reflect.
As the mud forms a weight on my boots and escalates the weariness of my legs, every once in a blue moon I'll come across a distinctly shaped arrowhead laid atop the soil. Through space and time, I give an internal nod to its proficient creator for sharing the wealth from a shared source of value.
New in my life: The oak sleeps in the acorn. A subtle shift in strategy. Uneducated in the formalities, profound in the essentials.
Keep smilin'
JM
