A Skydiving Doll by Sabrina Axelrod
Skydiving. “The sport of jumping from an aircraft and performing acrobatic maneuvers in the air during free fall before landing by parachute.” That’s right, to skydive is to WILLINGLY jump out of a moving, perfectly well-crafted airplane.
Who would do this you might be wondering? It certainly isn’t the girl that won’t eat food that isn’t plain, refuses to wear patterns on her shirts, and is afraid of the witch in Snow White… but spoiler alert, she did it.
Even though all the above is very true, I do surprisingly have an adventurous side. Now, this blog post isn’t to explain my personality but to enlighten my dolls on how much fun it is to jump from a plane, and how it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
You can see it on my face above just how much fun this experience was for me. Not only did I face my fears, but I crossed an item off my bucket list, and did it with my best friend; my little sister. We have sister dates every now and again and this one we just decided to spur of the moment jump from a plane. Much to the chagrin of our mother, we did it and landed safely. (And got some cute pictures, if I do say so myself).
The experience is like no other. Pre-dive, you watch a video on safety, then an instructor helps you put on straps to keep you safe and explains the various positions you’ll need to take in order to dive properly.
Next, you’re taken outside and onto a tiny little plane, carrying upwards of seventeen people. You get on, and your instructor puts your straps together and you’re ready to go. This plane ride is very short in time, or maybe I just blacked out and don’t remember the actual distance we went up…either way, this is where the nerves start to build.
I was the last one on the plane. I saw my sister jump out head first—this was not a sight I’d like to see again but I thought in my head if my baby sister can do it, so can I. So, I put a smile on my face and jumped. Post jump you couldn’t remove the smile off my face no matter how hard you tried.
Free falling lasted for about a minute, then the parachute goes up, and you’re free to look around and see just how beautiful our world is. I got to see the Philly skyline, the trees with their beautiful new fall colors, and most importantly, I got to watch my best friend land safely.
Upon my landing, my sister and I were bouncing up and down joyously like two little girls in Disney World. We did it. We faced our fears. Crossed it off of our bucket list and lived to tell the tale.
While I don’t recommend Skydiving to everyone, I do recommend trying to live outside your comfort zone. Someone once said, “life begins when you step out of your comfort zone,” and that’s what it’s all about! Wake up, do your makeup, get on a self-care routine, take a bath, go to a yoga class, and maybe even hop out of a plane.