LET'S GO SKYDIVING ☁️ ☁️ ☁️

Yes, I know, this is a quilting blog.  But, I am busy doing secret Christmas quilting so I can't blog about any of that.  I've been working on a quilt now for over a month. It involves paper piecing, hand appliqué, embroidery and rewriting the pattern and it's still far from finished.  So ... 

So, let's go skydiving ☁️ ☁️ ☁️

I first went skydiving in 2016 after someone very dear to me and very much loved had passed away.  Her husband and I made our first jump on her birthday; both in her memory and to celebrate her beautiful life. She would have turned 34 that day. She left behind two small boys who are the little loves of my life.  They asked me to bring them back a cloud.  Which I did ☁️

So far, I have jumped four times, each time in Lauren's memory.  Often, people will ask me what it's like to skydive. Was I scared? What actually happens up there in the sky? Do they push you out of the plane? I thought I would answer those questions here and maybe, just maybe, I can convince you to go too ...

Skydiving is amazing!  On my first jump I had no idea what to expect. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't really scared, I was just looking forward to the day.  Once we got to SkyDive Carolina, which is in Chester, South Carolina, this is what happened ...

After sitting through a training video you suit up and meet your instructor.  Then you board a plane that flies you two and a half miles up in the air.  Once there, the instructors share their secret handshake with you (I kid you not) and after telling you that they have the best job in the world they take you to the open hatch.  You are literally standing there, toes balanced on the lip of the hatch, with nothing between you and the open sky.  Then you simply take one step ... one step out into nothing. Or is it a leap of faith? 

One little step and suddenly you're falling at 120 miles per hour.  You plummet through the sky while all the colors of the world kaleidoscope around you.  There is no fear.  Absolutely none.  There is only sheer adrenaline coursing through your veins at a speed faster than you're falling.  You have to remind yourself to breathe.  And then you have to remind yourself to breathe again.

Some time during this crazy cool free fall your instructor pulls the rip cord and instantly you realize why it's called that because you are literally ripped from your 120 mile an hour dive through the sky to a dead stop in mid air as your chute opens up.  

This sudden jerk to a stop lasts only moments but in those moments everything useless shatters away from you ... your pain, your worries, your grief.  You feel like you've left the whirlwind of the sky behind and have landed instead in the quiet of the heavens; sitting completely still and at peace in the palm of God's hand. 

Then, just like that, those moments are over and He simply tips His hand and .... lets .... you ... go ....

You drift slowly down through the sky, touching the clouds with your fingertips while your body fills to the brim with endorphins till  they simply spill out and over and form wings and you're flying and soaring and floating through the soundless sky. There is only joy.  Simple, pure and absolute joy.  It's like nothing you'll ever feel again.  

For the rest of the day you'll walk around with a smile on your face that refuses to leave and this unexplained open space in your chest that keeps filling up with joy.  

And even though you're walking on the earth now ...  your toes don't seem to touch the ground as your mind and your heart are still somewhere up there in the sky.

Leonardo DaVinci said, "Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you will always long to return." 

And that's it.  And if you ever want that.  Just that.  All of that.  Then try it.  Please. Everyone should have the chance to bring home their very own cloud  ☁️  

Remember to pick up a needle and thread and stitch some joy into your sky❣️

NOTE:  Since writing this blog I was contacted by the manager of DropZone who asked if someone could interview me about skydiving. During the interview they found out that I also quilted. The disparity of the two hobbies intrigued them enough to include both in their article. You can read my interview here ...
From Quilting To Skydiving - Less Of A Leap Than You'd Expect