I took my first jump from a plane tandem with a certified jumper but this was still a supreme pilgrimage through fear for me. Every jump since has been on my own under the instruction of certified professionals with hundreds and even thousands of jumps under their belts. In skydive speak, I am four. Skydivers ARE the number of jumps they have made.
For me, certifying in Advanced Free Fall, ie. Skydiving, is my means of harnessing fear. There is no particular fear to ‘conquer’, for I learned on the first jump that fear of heights does not even exist at that altitude. I just seek to tap into that place deep within my mind prone to ‘freak’ under circumstances I can not control. I am learning a new way of being.
On the morning of my 4th jump at Skydive Deland, I chose to wear my Freeset t-shirt from Rethreaded. I had just bought it that week when Kristin shared the Freeset story. Upon learning that the indecipherable script on the t-shirt was actually signatures of women who found freedom and new ways of being through the intervention of folks who cared enough to serve, the symbolism was not lost on me. I wanted to cast those names into light every opportunity I could find.
The first opportunity I had seemed fated. On the morning of that jump, I wanted to carry their spirits up 13,500 feet and then take my leap wrapped in their power. See, we were all seeking new ways of being through trust of others. These women, who I only knew through their signatures and their stories told through a voice not their own, trusted the extended hands of others much the same way I was trusting my instructors. We trusted these new folks in our circles to give us the tools we needed to take that next step, to move right through fear of unknowns and into new ways of being.
We leapt – metaphorically and literally.
Tina Vaughn
