Heights are fine. It’s the falling that get ya.
A few weeks ago I was feeling stagnant. The television show is going well, we’re pushing our production limits on the podcast, my husband is happy – but I wasn’t feeling that growth or that sense of contentment. So I decided to take a big step out of my comfort zone and into the open sky. I went skydiving!
But of course nothing ever goes as planned. The friend that I planned to share the experience with had scheduling conflicts so I had to take the plunge on my own. And then when I got there, the weather was bad! Finally – after two trips and four hours in the car – I made it into the plane and up into the sky.
As you might imagine, I was terrified. The plane went up and I was pretty close to the door. What I didn’t expect was that some people would be jumping out of the plane at a lower altitude. So after about 5 minutes someone OPENED THE DOOR to the open sky and then jumped out of the plane. I wish that the videographer had captured my feet scrambling me back towards the back of the plane! My heart was beating out of my best as I realized that I attached to my seat but was not yet attached to my instructor – meaning that I was next to the open door of the plane with no parachute. I would not wish that feeling on anyone.
Happily after the low-altitude people jumped they closed the door and the plane continued to ascend, and ascend, and ascend. When we were finally so far up there that I could see the curvature of the earth, the door opened again and my instructor pushed us into position. Then there was nothing to do but take some deep breaths and let gravity take it from there.
Keep your head up!
The first few seconds out of the plane were disorienting. We didn’t initially fall in an orderly fashion, but kind of rolled out of the plane into the sky. Or at least that’s how I recall it. I’ve read that people typically get sensory overload during the first few seconds on their first jump so I definitely question my own recollection.
What I did recall were my instructors directions. Arch your back and let your legs fall back, hold on to the straps until he said to let go, and keep your head up so that the photographer and videographer can get a good photo. So even as I fell – screaming the entire time – I held on until it was safe to let go and found the photographer as often as possible.
It’s a very cool experience to try and model while tumbling towards the ground at 120 miles per hour with a man on your back. 10/10 would recommend.
Big thoughts
In the end, the experience did shake me from my comfort zone. Life is an adventure that’s meant to be lived. I felt stagnant because all of my energy was being directed towards professional growth and not towards personal fulfillment. Yes we have to go to work, do our taxes, get our vaccines, move the needle on the television show’s production value, move from a remote podcast to an in-person podcast, hire a sales professional and on and on – but an abundance of that professional fulfillment will not be enough to leave me feeling personally fulfilled.
There’s more to life than work. I just need to fall from a plane to see things from that new perspective.
