There have been very few times in my life when my mind felt completely blank and I was able to live in the moment. My first skydiving experience last weekend may have been the closest I’ve ever gotten.
Last Saturday, a group of Acorn Media DVD developers: Lindsay, Anna, and I drove the hour and a half from Silver Spring, MD to Warrenton Airfield in Virginia for our first skydiving experience. After arriving at the airfield and literally signing our lives away, we were each introduced to our tandem instructors who gave us a few minutes of “training” — where to put our hands during the jump, how to arch our bodies backwards “like a banana,” and my favorite piece of advice: “if you have to throw up, do it inside your shirt so it doesn’t obscure your instructor’s vision.”
Before we knew it, it was time to board the plane, and there we were harnessed to our instructors. The door opened. We could hear the noise of the engine and the cold November wind. As I watched each pair jump out of the plane, I was astonished by how quickly they became just a small dot on the landscape. I stood in the door, my heart beating in my head. I assumed the “banana” position they taught us, and felt my instructor nudge us out of the plane.
Judy Sellner 