"Jamie," I texted my brother last Saturday, "I flyed!"
"No, you falled," he answered. (Yes, I realize both statements are grammatically inaccurate but I am pretty sure that The Land Before Time is also The Land Before Grammar.) Jamie was not technically wrong but I don't think I am technically wrong either. It's kind of hard to tell the difference between flying and falling, except for that kersplat at the end they are practically similar.
The point is, I flyed... or flew.
Let me tell you something about skydiving. IT IS THE COOLEST THING I WILL EVER DO! I wasn't even super attached to the idea of doing it. Some people put it on their "bucket lists," they know it is something they want to try at least once. Some people know without even looking at it that it is not something they want to do and put it on their "not even if you paid me a million dollars" list. For me the thought process was something more along the lines of, "I don't want to deprive myself of experiences" and I figured that, if there was an appropriate time to skydive, my birthday, the year I turn from two decades to three, is going to be it. Then I did it. And I landed. And I turned to my instructor and said, "again?"
Again.
I will fly again and when I do I will definitely go back to Skydive Snohomish because they were great.
So... let me tell you a little about my day flying. I woke up early that morning so I could get ready with plenty of time and make the drive up to Snohomish without stressing about making it on time. I am habitually early so when my navigation said it would take 56 minutes to get there I read an hour and a half. At that time it did not quite register that I was going to get on a plane in two hours and disembark before it was back on the ground. It really did not register that I was going to disembark and PLUMMET for about a minute. That level of understanding came later. When I got up that morning and said, "I'm skydiving today," my brain only understood it in a theoretical capacity.
Knowing something in a completely theoretical capacity does not create anxiety. Anxiety happens when that thought moves out of your brain and into your body. It did not occur to my body that I was actually planning on putting it in danger until I was standing inside the lobby filling out the release forms.
"Wait... we're doing what?"
I'm not afraid of heights. I am, however, nervous about them. Back in December I had the opportunity to climb up to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu and being there at the peak of a fairly steep mountain looking at the clouds below me I had a small anxiety attack and needed to get farther away from the ledge.
Fortunately, Skydive Snohomish clearly invests in employee training that includes calming nervous people. Everyone spoke in calm, reassuring, tones, they spent a lot of time explaining everything they do and all of the safety protocols they have in place, and the first rule that they give you in the safety briefing is; smile and have fun. As a person who usually lists safety third in my list of priorities, that is a business model I can get behind.
Then you go through some training and go outside and put on your jumpsuit (by the way, Skydive Snohomish has jumpsuits they lend you which is a major plus. As I was researching what to wear skydiving I learned that not all skydiving places do). And again, the realness of what I was doing set in. And again, their training is very good. My instructor (Parachute operator? Exit buddy?) came jogging over. "Hi, I'm Kelly. You are going to help me start my day."
"Awesome. You are going to help me start my 30s."
And he just sort of talked with me the whole rest of the time I was getting ready and as we were boarding the plane; explained how the camera worked, how the harnesses attached to one another. I knew I would start feeling anxiety on the plane and I definitely would feel it when I started watching people step out of it but, again, their training is very good and they understand that it is hard for a person to dwell on their upcoming plunge back to earth when you just keep talking to them about random things, half of which I am pretty sure were made up. He also made a point of announcing to the people around us several times that it was my birthday.
(The most reassuring thing he told me though was while he was hooking me up to the parachute I asked him a question and he said, "well whatever happens to you happens to me to so I'm going to make sure it doesn't. Self preservation is the most compelling motivator.)
About 8 minutes later they opened up the plane door and we did the thing.
Anxiety tends to go away when you do whatever it is you are anxious about. For me with skydiving, it was it's worst the five seconds when we went over to the door and I hung outside of the plane. Then I was flying and it didn't matter anymore!
What I remember from the safety video is that you start out going about 180 miles an hour and the a drag shoot is released to slow you to 120. Let me tell you, I went somewhere between 180 and 120 miles an hour and I have been speeding in my car ever since, 60 just isn't fast enough anymore.
My favorite part was being allowed to steer after we finished our freefall. Really guys. I FLIED!
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