It’s true that I love to sit by a roaring fire. Not only is there something primitive about pieces of wood burning to a white glow, but the warmth always heals my aches and brings rosy color to my cheeks. On cold days I yearn for Jon to make me a cozy fire (he makes the biggest ones!), and this week we finally tried out our fire pit so I could enjoy the heat under an orange sunset.
Lately, my love of fires got me thinking a lot about why they appeal to me so passionately, and I think it goes much further back than just a few childhood memories of fires on a snowy, Christmas Eve. In fact, I think a love of fires is as instinctual as my fear of heights, along with other habits that are ingrained in my behavior. So, I’ve decided to share a few of what I suspect would be my prehistoric inclinations, some perhaps from instinct and others simply a part of my personality.
Say Hello to Cavewoman Eva!
We all know I love fires, but aside from making me feel good, fires would bring primitive people together to cook and tell stories. I think that’s one of the reasons I love them so much – it’s something to gather around joyfully with family and friends. Fire is an event all in itself!
I have about a zillion sleeping quirks, least of which is my need to sleep in absolute darkness. If I were a cavewoman, I would definitely sleep in a cave. Like, about as far back in that cave as I possibly could. Any slivers of light disturb me, and if I leave my windows open to the sun completely, I’ll be woken up right at dawn. I’m also a super light sleeper and will be the first to wake at any disturbance. I think that made me the most likely to be on watch in my early cavewoman days – I would wake up if there was danger, and alert the others in my camp.
Since I was five, I have been terrified of heights. It all started while trying to walk up a New England lighthouse, where the stairs were made of a sturdy, see-through mesh. After three steps I abruptly walked down and refused to go any further. This makes me believe that as a cavewoman, I would not have been living near any heights. Or if I did, there was no reason to go very near them. I am also not crazy about wide open spaces where there is no shelter, and I absolutely hate strong gusts of wind. I think I would have enjoyed settling around some lovely woods where there was plenty of natural rocks and caves to take shelter. And a little brook!
I joke a lot on here that I have terrible motion sickness and don’t travel well, so I don’t imagine as a primitive person I’d be all that keen on going long distances. Sailboats aren’t too bad for me since they’re smoother than modern craft, but it’s entirely possible that high swells even in a sailboat wouldn’t work out for my inner-ear. I’m not sure how much early man traveled, but I bet there were a few of them that tried to build a boat. And forget long-distance migration – I hate endurance sports!
Without a doubt, you would have found Cavewoman Eva near a hot spring…or five! Healing, warmth, comfort, and skin care are all things that I love about naturally heated waters today, so I imagine it would be the holy grail for myself as an early human. In fact, I’m not sure why I ever left?
I’m good with my hands, so I would have definitely been a craftsperson, weaving baskets or making pottery. I also am woefully near-sighted, so working with objects close up would have been one of the few things I could manage day-to-day. Last time I checked, cavewomen didn’t have glasses, so poor wild, Eva would have been discouraged from wandering too far away from camp!
Caring for the injured, elderly, and animals is another place where I remain devoted, so I could easily see myself being a shoulder for others, as well as maintaining livestock. I also like to build and fix things, so other than small crafts items, I would be someone who would find new uses for tools. I do fancy myself a bit of a MacGyver!
And there you have it, a full look at my cavewoman personality! What would you say is yours?
Share your cave-personality with me in the comments below! I’d love to hear how you think an early woman/man version of you would live in pre-historic times!
