For my 49th birthday I decided to jump out of an airplane. I knew this was a powerful birthday: a completion of a 7x7 cycle and the beginning of a new one.
I contemplated the last seven cycles: my childhood, adolescence, young womanhood, travel, entering a marriage partnership, becoming a mother, publishing a book. It seems that each of these peaked around the conclusion of a seven-year cycle. And I felt that skydiving would be a powerful way to celebrate my 49th birthday.
Skydiving
I researched skydiving in this beautiful region we live in, known as the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. I chose a small, family-owned operation in Cloverdale, about 30 miles north of our home. The main instructor had 10,000 dives under his belt, and the expanse in which we would be descending, features gently rolling hills and miles of grapevines.
We arrived at a small field dotted by tiny airplanes. My plan suddenly became three-dimensional, and scary!
I realized I would be flying in one of those toy-like airplanes, which close up, didn’t seem sturdy or safe. I was about to soar up 14,000 feet and jump down. What was I thinking???
The Pre Flight Fears
The paperwork was exhaustive. As the instructor’s Mom said, in a heavy German accent: “We make sure you don’t sue us!”
My partner and I took a deep breath, and smiled reassuringly to each other, as I was initialing away. My daughter was very excited about the prospect of watching me dive, from her seat on the deck.
The instructor was joking with her: “Anything you want?” he asked, “a new bike, maybe? I will be up in the sky with your Mom, I’ll get her to promise me anything!” He was funny and I was nervous.
I hugged my family goodbye, and headed toward a tiny airplane, accompanied by two men I had only just met: an instructor and a pilot.
The thought of putting my life in the hands of two strangers was an odd one. I knew I wanted to have a flying experience, and this was the only way of getting it. I decided to choose trust… We entered the airplane, strapped ourselves in, and took off.
And Off We Go
The view was breath taking. I was fully engaged in it as we climbed up, not thinking of the next moment.
“We are at about jumping height”, the instructor’s voice jolted me back to the task at hand, “14,000 feet.”
Everything on the ground looked miniature. I panicked. Am I really going to jump out of this airplane? Have I lost my mind?
The airplane’s side door opened, and a gust of wind blew in. I felt paralyzed. My instructor moved behind me, and strapped himself to my back. He asked that I sit at the airplane’s open mouth, with my feet dangling.
“Look up!” he shouted. I did, and everything changed. The sky was deeply blue, not a cloud in sight. I could look at it forever.
When he called me to jump, I gently eased myself out, leaping UPWARD, into the wide-open sky. Had I looked down, I would have hesitated forever. As it was, I didn’t jump, I flew.
“Welcome to my world!” exclaimed my instructor in my ear, as I was trying to breath deeply. “What do you think?” I didn’t want to think. “It’s ‘chute time,” he said, “PULL!” When I did, the world became sane again. The dizzying speed stopped, and we were gently floating on airwaves.
Flying
This bird-like sensation was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Behind me the instructor was attempting small talk. I had to ask him to stop. “I want to be quiet, and enjoy this…” I said.
The wind shrieked loudly in my ears, yet a sense of peace and timelessness spread within me. Later I was told it took us about thirteen minutes to get back to earth, but time was certainly not of the essence.
I have flown like an eagle. I have seen the world from up above with my naked eye, nothing between the wind current and me. This peak experience will certainly stay with me for the rest of my life. Yet, to my surprise, I have no wish to repeat it.
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