These days, it’s pretty easy to feel like the proverbial wolf is always at the door. The constant stream of bad news partnered with dubious leadership, economic instability and future uncertainty—it can get to us. That wolf always seems to be just outside. Huffing. Puffing. Ready to blow.

You know those wolves: Things you have to do. Things you forgot to do, but needed to do “yesterday”. Bad news from work. Unstable relationships. Challenges with no solutions. A droning narrative that the world is going to hell.

What if we could just take a day off from all of that?

You may think you can't. You might say to yourself: It's life! You must always be on guard! The wolves! They're at the door! Right? Aren’t they?

Well, I'm going to tell you a little secret: I recently discovered, rather serendipitously, that every 60 days the wolves get the day off. Not too long ago, something unusual showed up in my email. I did not open it immediately, but it was clearly a newsletter, with an old-fashioned logo across the top that read “The International Order of Wolves”. Apparently the Wolves Union Newsletter had been accidentally sent to me. I don't quite understand how my spam filter missed it. Clearly a breach of security on my part and actually on the Wolves Union's part as well. Never mind, though. Of course, I read it. Very interesting stuff!

There were multiple letters to the editor from various wolves complaining about being overworked. The relentless scheduling. How awful it is to have to show up at someone’s door for sixty straight days. Sure, wolves enjoy their work, which includes lots of snarling, growling and intimidation (who wouldn't enjoy that!?) but it can also be quite stressful. The follow-up article stated that, after much consideration and internal debate by leadership, the wolves union declared a MANDATORY one day off every sixty days.

Now, you may not realize it, but it's fortuitous that you too have just now opened up a questionable entry in your own email, or clicked on a LinkedIn or Substack post titled "String Theory" and are reading this at this very moment. It just so happens that TODAY is Wolf’s Day off! I don't know how it's been timed out that way, but it is so. Consequently, you have been notified—your own personal wolf will NOT be chasing you, just for today.

Seriously. Go to your door right now and look outside. It's okay, I’ll wait.

You’re back! No wolf out there, is there?

It's a day without the wolf at your door. So, what will you do with yourself? How will you act? First of all, notice how much more time you have on your hands. Worrying about wolves takes an enormous amount of time. And energy. But maybe you still have anxiety? How can that be? You’d assumed it was caused by that wolf. Now, as you mumble to yourself, "Why am I still so anxious?" consider this: Perhaps it's about the absence of the wolf. Maybe you’re worried about the wolves coming back tomorrow. Also, it’s so quiet now. Kinda creepy!

What about the wolves' mental health? Will they enjoy their day off as well? It's true that at first the wolves appreciated having a little time to themselves, but by 2 pm, being wolves, they’re bound to start turning on each other. That mayhem consumes 12 hours or so. Letters to the editor of the Wolves' Union Newsletter indicate that, on last year’s WDO, after just 24 hours the wolves were extremely relieved to get back to our doors, so they didn't have to be around all of those snarling, growling SOBs who don't know how to enjoy a day off.

You and I, or at least me (I don't know your own Union status), are not members of the Wolves Union. However, like me, you might actually be a member of another Union which offers as part of their benefits package the right to claim an ADDITIONAL day to be the wolf's day off. A kind of floating holiday. What an amazing union benefit!

Last week I claimed my wolf's extra day benefit because, you know, "use it or lose it." What do you suppose happened?

My particular wolf comes back from his day off, desperate to get away from his idiot lupine brethren, only to find out that he must take yet another day off, by orders of some union of which he is not a member, and frankly, has never heard of. But the sign on the front porch says, "Wolf's Day Off”. What can he do? He slinks back to Wolf City just to sit around some more. I can tell you that this sort of thing drives wolves crazy. They’re workaholics, with not the faintest clue what to do with any extra leisure time.

Shall we try a quick thought experiment? In this scenario, you become the wolf and they become you. They often try to sneak back onto your front porch on their second day off. They can hear you through the door, with your TV volume up to 8, laughing and talking on your silly little mobile phone. They sniff the bacon-infused air with their long, protruding snouts while you cook breakfast. They peer through the front window to behold a different you, one who’s not anxious and afraid of them. All day long they stew in their own boredom, unable to get on with it, to just be a wolf. In our little experiment, the metamorphosis is complete. YOU have become the wolf at THEIR door.

This entire matter opened up another "door" for me. With all this leisure time at my disposal, I began corresponding with old timers on Reddit who knew all about the WDO phenom. How could I have missed it for so many years? This is what the old timers say: After taking many days off, eventually the wolves grow tired of working so hard, just like you. After all, they’ve been snarling at your door without ceasing, for decades. For what? No meat. No greet. Two days off every sixty now feel like not enough "free time". They start taking their own days off! Declaring "personal health days" and such. Eventually, not showing up at your door due to a sort of general angst becomes the norm for them. Your wolf has become a lazy fat old dog.

So, on a typical morning, you burst on to the front porch screaming “The wolf is at our door”! But no wolf. Only crickets. The wolf has overslept, thinking it was another day off. That's when you realize that the wolf doesn't want any of this anymore. Yet you persist, every morning you ARE the little boy who cries wolf. Even when the wolf has given up, gone home, and is laying on his doggie bed chewing on a delicious artificially flavored canine teeth cleaning doggie treat.

So, I ask you again…who is the wolf at the door now?

It's time to reconsider your relationship with the wolf.

Has it become your pet? Have you given it a name? I’ve had several wolf pets over the years. To name a few:

Greed

Impatience

Arrogance

Intolerance

The past

The future

The wolf is named after anything that's chasing you, howling in the distance, snarling at your door, inviting you to be oh so afraid, and perhaps, to become JUST LIKE THEM. That is, before they started taking so many days off and got too chilled to continue worrying about it.

© Ray Brimble and stringtheorybyraybrimble.com, 2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ray Brimble and stringtheorybyraybrimble.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Feature photo: Ryutaro Tsukata