I’ve done some creative writing over the holidays, and it has led me into employing a new method of falling asleep at night. It has actually lately turned into a habit that I actually look forward to. It’s bordering on astral projection but I haven’t gotten that far down the rabbit hole.
It’s a slow day today and all my work is caught up so I thought I’d share this.
What I do is put on a mix of uplifting ambient music and nature sounds on my earbuds, then think about a destination or destinations that I would like to visit before I finally drift off. I try to picture in as vivid detail as possible what outerwear and protective equipment I would actually want to be wearing, based on the weather and temperature and anticipated altitude, that will enable me to safely and comfortably use my imagined superpower of unaided human flight, to go anywhere in the world that I wish as I drift off. Then, in my mind, I stand out in the middle of our front yard all geared up, check for overhead hazards, shoot up in the air about 500 feet or so, and start the journey.
It is a fun mental exercise that I started while I was really sick earlier this month, which helped me stay sane while I was laid up and barely had the energy to leave bed for about 10 days.
This exercise started out simply, with me imagining just standing out in the yard in my street clothes and taking flight. But as I have gotten further into this exercise and the creative possibilities, a couple of things have become apparent.
If a superpower such as unaided human flight could exist, it would pose a few problems without having other corresponding, complimentary superpowers.
As anyone who has any experience with emergency services or been in combat can attest, the human body is about as resilient to mechanical forces as a watermelon. It doesn’t take much force or energy to turn a human into a pile of steaming goo. So the implications of even a bird strike without an airframe to protect you could be disastrous. So when doing this mental exercise, I find myself needing to also imagine that you have the corresponding complimentary superpower of indestructibility for the simulation to hold up, unless I want to imagine at least have some protective gear on. Depending on airspeed, no airframe or amount of PPE would even matter. However, it is also kind of interesting leaving certain vulnerabilities and limitations in place to make one consider how they would really use such a superpower. It’s not as simple as it sounds.
Take the importance of oxygen for example. From my skydive and flight training days, I saw firsthand the effects of hypoxia. Most of our relative work jumps and formation loads were done from an exit altitude of 12,500’. Occasionally, when the cloud conditions and temperatures would permit, we would beg the pilot to give us 16,000’. It makes a big difference in your available freefall time. Instead of getting 55 seconds or so of freefall before needing to get a working parachute out over your head, you get nearly a full minute and a half of time to do fun things with your friends smiling like madmen right in front of you. Less if you are all head down and travelling at a much higher terminal velocity than belly to earth. The thing is, spending much time above 12,500’ on the climb to altitude without a pressurized cabin or supplemental oxygen, starts to become a real problem. On a normal jump from 12,500’, you’re really only above 10,000’ for a few minutes before you are on “jump run” and getting ready to exit. You don’t really notice the oxygen becoming more scarce. But gaining another 3500’ of jump altitude when the aircraft’s rate of climb is decreasing in the thinning air, can mean an additional 20 minutes or so above 10,000’, even in a very capable turboprop aircraft. On one such jump I looked across at my Japanese buddy Seiji as we neared 16,000’, and noticed that his lips and his nail beds on his hands were blue. Time to exit or abort.
Anyway, back to this mental flight/sleep assistance exercise. One of the cool side benefits that I have started to see as part of this method of stimulating my imagination and drifting off to sleep at the same time, has been observation of the types of places I choose to visit. Last night I started visiting the various places that I have lived over the past 50 plus years, and trying to see in detail the places where I spent my time. It has really made me realize just how amazing our minds, and particularly our long term memories work. I am recalling people and very specific things and interactions that I haven’t thought about in over 30 years in some cases. And the detail of these memories is staggering. The actual pattern of rocks that allowed me to cross our creek in the summer without getting a “soaker”. The memory of seeing an owl swoop down to capture a rabbit in its talons before lighting on top of a power pole to begin eating it, as I slung arrows practicing for an upcoming tournament.
The biggest revelation in doing this exercise has been the opportunity it creates to review what one’s interactions have been like with others, and if there are any trends in one’s general experience in these places one has resided in that may be able to teach one about ways of living better right now, where we are. It has been quite revealing.
Anyway, I won’t bore you with any more of this. I just wanted to share something that I have found fun and insightful with fellow seekers.
Where will you fly tonight?
#grownostr
