![\"Timber](\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3034\/2341120205_db834e00cd.jpg\" "\\"Timber")
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<\/p>\n From She-Wolf to Domesticated Dog: How Pain Changed Me<\/b><\/p>\n Approximately 35,000 years ago, the Grey Wolf was not a domesticated animal.\u00a0 It had no master.\u00a0 It lived off the land, found itself shelter and food.\u00a0 It did not depend on humans for sustenance. \u00a0Prior to domestication, the wolf lived its own life.\u00a0 It fought its own battles, it took care of itself. It had a purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n So what in the world does the grey wolf have to do with living with pain?\u00a0 The way my twisted mind works, it\u2019s actually quite clear to me, but let me expand on that.\u00a0 Everyone has heard the phrase \u201cwhat a lucky dog!\u201d\u00a0 That is because many people look at \u201ca dog\u2019s life\u201d and sees an animal that (at least in my household) is cared for, gets a little exercise and then spends the remainder of the day and night laying around and sleeping.\u00a0 She has the life- no worries, no.\u00a0 Some look at this lifestyle and think: \u201cI want a dog\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n I have a dog\u2019s life. I can tell you, it gets old and boring real fast.\u00a0 Here me out (and please, do not get offended, this is only an analogy).\u00a0 Before wolves were domesticated and became what we know of as \u201cdogs,\u201d they had a very different life.\u00a0 They had jobs, purposes and they depended on themselves and their instincts to survive.\u00a0 They had to go out and find food and water, find shelter to protect themselves from the elements.\u00a0 They travelled in packs and although they had the pack to help them, essentially, it was every wolf for itself.<\/p>\n This is somewhat similar to the way I feel since my injuries.\u00a0 Before living with chronic pain, I had a job, I had a purpose and I had goals.\u00a0 I was self-reliant.\u00a0 Yes, I had and still have my pack- my husband, my family and friends- and they helped me, but when it came down to it, I had to take care of myself.\u00a0 I had to study, work, and help provide for myself.\u00a0 For the last two years, I feel like I am a wolf that has been turned into a domesticated dog.\u00a0 I no longer have a job (except the occasionally free-lance writing job), I feel I no longer have a purpose, I have few goals and I have to depend on my husband to provide for me.\u00a0 See the connection?<\/p>\n I am grateful that I have shelter and food and that my husband protects me, but I somehow feel like less of a person since all this happened.\u00a0 I feel like my dog, going out for my daily walk\/exercise and then laying around, sleeping a lot and watching television.\u00a0 My dog and I do this out of necessity.\u00a0 If she was a farm dog, she would be herding cattle, going into the fields to help.\u00a0 If I were not living in pain, I would be going to a 9-5 job and providing for a family.<\/p>\n My dog can\u2019t change her circumstances, her life is that of a spoiled, and I think, happy, dog.\u00a0 My life, however, can change.\u00a0 Every step is difficult, but I am trying to remember how to howl at the moon.\u00a0 I am making changes to go back to the she-wolf I was.\u00a0 I am taking on more freelance work, writing more, going back to acting class.\u00a0 It\u2019s not easy and these are small, difficult steps, but I am trying to change my circumstances.<\/p>\n Resource:<\/p>\n http:\/\/archaeology.about.com\/od\/domestications\/qt\/dogs.htm<\/a><\/p>\n Photo courtesy of\u00a0Art G.<\/a>\u00a0via\u00a0Compfight<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, to end this week’s series on ways to explain chronic pain, I present my own theory. \u00a0I have used this metaphor to describe how living with chronic pain has changed me. \u00a0I call it “The Wolf Theory.” From She-Wolf to Domesticated Dog: How Pain Changed Me Approximately 35,000 years ago, the Grey Wolf was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pain-care","tag-dbtag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137,"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions\/137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/painvalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}