Contagious Energies

     Ever been in a yawn-fest? You know...when one person's yawn can set off a chain reaction, prompting another, then another, then another to yawn in suit? There's actually a name for this phenomenon (a phenomenon that occurs, by the way, only in humans and chimps). It's called contagious yawning.
     Amazing how much research has been done on the subject. (One could lose hours to googling these things.) Seems the latest theories tie it to an empathy gene within the homo sapien species. In other words, the more empathetic you are, the more likely you are to yawn when you see another person yawn, and vice versa (i.e. the less empathetic, the less likely someone else's yawn is to affect you. They say 2-year-olds old hardly do it at all. Isn't the internet wonderful?)
     Can't speak for the studies, but there is something to contagious energies. Last week I saw a Facebook post of a woman on a subway laughing at something on her phone, prompting another to laugh at her laughing, and so on and so on, until finally the whole train car was in stitches. You watch it to the end and you'll be laughing yourself, that's how contagious these energies can be.
     What is true for yawning and laughter, however, is likewise true for the opposite side of the energy spectrum, such as when a day or a project gone awry just keeps on keeping on spiraling ever downward. (Gremlins! I if they ever find you, they arrive in a clown car.) At some point you need to just stop what you're doing and start all over again when the coast is clear.
     I'm keenly sensitive to energies like these especially when it comes to buildings, for this is when things get sloppy as folks rush to complete something they hadn't paid much attention to in the first place. By definition, the creative process is about "flow" and if that flow ever starts heading in the wrong direction: Katie-bar-the-door. Like yawns, pretty soon everything starts to follow suit.

God bless my worker-bee, Eric.
Pretty sure this was not in his job description!

     In a moment of "gotta laugh to keep from crying" I asked my contractor to come see me for a minute as I watched him bring a small load of lumber onto a job that should not have run out. The purpose of my request was not to voice anger, but rather, share my experience in these things whereby  if we don't get this on the right track, we will all suffer, so let us reach a truce, get this phase complete and be above board about things for the sake of sturdy barns and paid up draws. Sitting on my front porch, he begins explaining the sagas of his work and the reason behind the domino affect of losing crews, miscalculating jobs, etc. etc. all to justify why my job is now 6 weeks behind schedule and counting.  (Nothing worse than taking up yet MORE my time with your excuses in my book, but I allowed him the therapy of it all, for he seemed to need it, I really needed my job not to go sideways.) We're all of 5  minutes into this palaver when a worker on the rafters hollers out, "YO DUDE! YOU LEFT THE GATE OPEN!" and indeed it was true. My weeks-behind, over-extended, miscalculating contractor had walked right out of the work area, blithely leaving the pen open, meaning our next hour and a half was spent chasing 16 goats and 3 dogs over garden and neighborhood.
     The good news is, the garden's a goner anyway, and the goats are gaga over what's left of it. What's more, they are relatively easy to catch by shaking chow in a red solo cup. The bad news: dogs roam and not always where you want them to.
     It was a prime example of energies gone awry, and it has been my experience that once the avalanche begins, you can never get it back. At the end of the day, this is where tough decisions are made. I don't like making them, but when it comes to doing what's best for my critters, God sent me the perfect sign.