Defying Gravity, Defying Fear

They say that starting is half the battle. In this case it truly was. That first step was signing the safety waver. Once I'd done that, it was a matter of putting a harness on me and climbing those steps up the inside of the steel structure. The steps were coarse against my feet. It briefly passed through my head that this didn't seem so bad. Maybe I could do this.

Upon reaching the top that thought was still there... That is, until I had my toes grasping the edge of the stand, one arm holding on to the trapeze bar and the other still holding onto the left hand hold on the ledge.

"Okay, left," the woman holding on to my harness told me. Oh no, I thought. But for some reason I did it. It left me in a position about a hundred times more scary than the last position. My upper body hanging over the edge of the ledge, the only thing holding me there was the woman holding on to me.

"Ready." I bent my knees, just as I'd been told.

"Hup." I jumped. Relief. I was still in the air, and yet, I wasn't falling. I was swinging back and forth by my hands on a bar. I was instructed a few times to try some kicks. And that was the first swing. The instructor on the ground then said, "Okay, now three kicks and drop. On my count."

And I did just that. I let go. And then I was on the mat, staring up at the bar that was being reeled in. And then I was walking back up to the top again.

After the three kicks, I was told to pull my knees in. I did, and found myself flipping on my way down to the mats.

And then the third swing, the last swing. This time he told me to hang upside-down, using the up swing to get my legs on the bar. The whole world was upside down, my hands flying free underneath my head, though it felt like they were above. And then, once again, I back flipped down to the mats.

It was then that I saw the silk hanging from the cealing. I asked my instructor about it. "Yes, we do aerial tissue classes as well. The next one is on Sunday, two days from now." I smiled and said I would be there.

Little did I know that one of the greatest tests of my fear of heights would be then, when I fell by accident from three-quarters of the way up the silk.