It was a bunch of years back. I loved the sky and would periodically visit, up close.
That worn and worthy Cessna 180 shuddered and gradually accelerated as the seven of us huddled forward and climbed twelve thousand feet. That's as high as I ever got. Any higher and masks were required. It took us about eight minutes to circle up to our altitude.
And then came our moment. It was always a rush as we neared the open door. Wind whistled by our heads as the pilot cut his engine. We looked at each other and nodded with a defiant thumbs up: we knew the routine.
I was the last diver out and in one of my existential moods. I fell, dove, hovered and watched the green and yellow checkerboard world down below grow larger. Pastel clouds lingered: I watched as they flew by. And it's somewhere at that point I considered NOT opening my chute.
Twelve seconds is terminal velocity: 170 MPH. Deployment has to be between five and two thousand feet.
Was that ephemeral rush merely seconds? I closed my eyes and hung weightless. Air rushed by me in a tumultuous roar. And then, my inner monologue smacked me on both sides of the head.
"What the fuck are you doing, Paul?"
Yes. I floated down like a fletched feather, the way a professional should. But for a minute there...
"L'appel du vide"... is more than a myth.
... one of my fellow sky-divers without her chute...
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15 comments
I've had that moment...that weird push-pull between curiosity about the edge and the very human instinct to live. It’s a well-documented psychological phenomenon. And pairing it with a song like Ariel’s “Take Me Somewhere I Have Never Been” underscores that tension beautifully.
😌
I'm glad you got it.
It only lasts a split-second, but it always gives me butterflies. 😲
I did talk out loud in the library, once. Other than that, I'm not a risk taker ... unless you count meeting men from this site. Oh! and doing HNW.
Gotcha... Lol... 😲😂
Although "L'appel du vide" lasts less than a split second. It's like leaning over the balcony in a hi-rise to feel the butterflies. 😲
@Paulxx001 I've never felt that split-second of courting death.
Courting? Lol... neither do I. 😲😂
How well you put it, and what a good name you’ve given to that feeling: “l’appel du vide.” Yes, I know what you mean. I’ve never done parachuting or any extreme sport that doesn’t have a bed as its stage 😀 but I’ve felt that sensation when looking down from the edge of a cliff or from the balcony of a high floor… and I’ve had to step back, with a shiver running down my spine. You’re not the only one, no.
Looking over edges and cliffs and balconies: I do that as well. 😲
Just for a split second. 😂
@Paulxx001 Yes, a fraction of a second
I get crazy thoughts too
I'm glad I'm not the only one.😂
With Katie pic story more good
I agree. 👍
What a thrill..
It certainly was.
Life is full of them, right?🤗
When younger would get wild thoughts and engaged in some dangerous behaviors.
They last for a couple of seconds.
For some, a lifetime. 😶
The "call of the void," or l'appel du vide in French, is the unsettling, fleeting urge to engage in dangerous behaviour.
Silly thoughts for a day where the sky was blue and it was perfect for a dive. Those huge white puffy cumulus clouds were absolutely motionless. 🤗
This song has been bouncing around in my head recently. Ariel has such a gnarled and gruff sound. "Take me somewhere I have never been... "
@author51
Happy to provide you with some "irresponsible" volume in the AM. 😂