clareyrobwrites

When you said legally trapped, do you mean you like... caught him and then trained him to catch stuff? Do you just repeat with a new bird every hunting season? This whole premise is incredibly funny

Yeah LMAO basically! In the USA, falconers are legally allowed to trap a juvenile, aka "passage" bird to use for falconry. Actually for a long time, the law REQUIRED apprentices to trap their first bird from the wild (as opposed to purchasing one from a captive breeding program). The government really said "you WILL get a fucking bird from the side of the road".

Most falconers will keep a passage hawk for a season or two before releasing it back into the wild and starting the process over again with a new bird. For me personally, that's a big part of the appeal! You get to develop a relationship with a new bird and get to know their personality and quirks etc, and also the more birds you train, the better you get at training.

It really is a pretty fucking hilarious premise, but it's also really faithful to the way falconry was originally practiced in the middle east/central asia for centuries, where people would trap a migrating juvenile bird to help feed themselves during the lean months, then release it when food was plentiful again.

Closely related anecdote: One time, after telling her about feeling constantly swamped and overwhelmed and walking her through how I spend my time, a very wise colleague asked me, “so when do you do your thinking and ideating if you’re always DOING?”

My mind was blown, I’d never conceived of having “thinking time” on its own. I struggled for second and replied that all my best ideas seemed to come to me in the shower or when I was trying to sleep and that was frustrating. She helpfully pointed out exactly what others are here…I needed to very intentionally give myself more idle time to think creatively that WASN’T in the shower or bed. So it would be useful.

So I did. And creative thinking = problem solving (instead of constantly reacting.)

I had mastered harnessing my particular ADHD brain powers to “produce” but I wasn’t giving it any time to rest and just BE and therefore THINK. I’ve burned myself out a few times this way. So I tried giving myself some less structured work “thinking time” and I have figured out a couple things by slowing down and thinking of the big picture since.