learning to fly

I have a total fear of heights, like paralyzing, heart-skip-a-beat type of fear. Cable cars or  high-rise balconies I can handle, but situations where you have nothing to save you from toppling over and falling through the air?  No, thanks.  What better way to overcome this fear than swinging on a flying trapeze at the Santa Monica Pier?  It's even better with hundreds of folks walking by and staring at the crazy girl precariously balanced on the edge of the board.

That's me!  Really, really high in the air!

Blood rush to my head

 My friend W was game for the adventure and we signed up for a class at TSNY Los Angeles.  After filling out the lengthy online waiver (which might have had paragraphs about concussions and broken bones) and the required 17 signatures, I was starting to question this grand plan.  And after climbing up 25 feet to the top, I was seriously regretting this absurd plan.

I don't know what was most terrifying...  Climbing two-thirds up the ladder (and wanting to immediately go back down)?  When they say jump, expecting you to actually leap off the board?  Or hearing "Let go!" and free-falling into the net wayyy below?

W & I with our instructors

But you know what?  I did it.  I ignored my crazy skip-a-beat heart and kept my wheezy breathing in check.  And I'm still alive.  By the end, my hands were ripped up and I was pretty sure the soreness in my shoulders was only going to get worse.  That said, totally worth it for the adrenaline rush.  Maybe heights aren't so bad after all.

But yeah, I probably won't quit my day job and join the circus.