Hello my loves!
Today I’m feeling a wee bitty bruised. Like I’ve had a really hard workout. Even though yesterday mainly consisted of waiting…and waiting, and then some more waiting…
A few months ago I signed up to do a charity Sky Dive. Being my usual self, I jumped (😂 no pun intended!!) at the chance when Siobhan from New Look mentioned it. It sounded like a good idea at the time. I can be very impulsive, although I’ve also conditioned myself to be that way over the years , because when you’re so busy saying no all the time, life kinda passes you by.
Anyway! I sorta kinda forgot about the whole thing. Well not really as we were trying to raise money and fundraise etc, but I had definitely pushed the actual thought of throwing myself out of an airplane at 10,000 ft out of my mind.
So then the day before the jump comes, and I’m at working coding drinks, while my manager is taking orders, and someone wants to leave a tip. So my manager says ‘oh, we’ll put that in the fundraising jar for Carrie’s Sky Dive that she’s doing tomorrow!’ And I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. I got a wee bit short of breath because although I knew I was doing it the NEXT day, hearing someone say it out loud made it that much more real.
So Siobhan and Kirsty (from New Look) and myself head down at 6:30am to make it to Strathallan for 9. We got there in plenty of time and waited to get our training!
At this point I think we’re all just pretty excited than we are nervous. And the team there totally put us at ease. We were so excited to have raised roughly £600 each when our goal was £500 for The Teenage Cancer Trust too!
So we go through our instruction video where the instructors really drum it in to us that the landing is by far the most important factor of the whole jump, so we practiced our leg lifting a bit.
Then after signing our lives away, we waited. Then our names are called and the fear sets in. And guys, I’ve said it before. I am not afraid to die. But I am terrified of the pain! (My instructor told me not to worry, because if my parachutes failed, I wouldn’t feel a thing when I hit the ground). And y’all I had a serious conversation with my spirit guide/angels before I left and they totally put me at ease by sending me 2 beautiful white butterflies, and also the suit I was given to wear was purple (my favourite colour as again it’s one I associate the most with my spirit guides)
So now Siobhan and I are suited up (poor Kirsty had to wait much longer than us as she was being filmed too 😣) and we’re strapped on to our tandem partners and not gonna lie guys. It was weirdly ‘intimate’. You’re basically sitting in between the legs of a stranger and you’re already feeling vulnerable as fuck, and you can literally feel every single movement they’re making, you’re trying so hard to relax and enjoy the view but all you want to do is take a huge breath and calm down but you can’t, because you’ve got a burly man right behind you. I mean, this gal needs dinner and drinks first, know what I’m sayin’? 🤷🏻♀️😂 but then there’s Siobhan who was being filmed so she was literally in the middle of a man sandwich so that made me laugh 😆 (and she also said she felt exactly the same way! 😂😂) so there’s always someone worse off guys…or better, depending how you want to look at it 🤔😏😂
So all of a sudden we’re at 10,000 ft and my guy (it’s much easier referring to him as ‘my guy’) shifts himself, and me, right on to the edge of the plane. Now I’m just looking out over the gorgeous Scottish landscape, but the ‘oh shit, this is it feeling’ washes over me and the fear sets in. Then I’m pushed out and allll the fear goes away. In a matter of a millisecond. And now we’re free falling I have my arms out and I’m in absolute awe. And the parachute is deployed and OMG in this moment I am so glad I’m not a man, because those straps grabbed my groin in such a way that I am bruised and a wee bitty tender today!
Throughout the whole dive I just can’t believe the feeling of pure calm I’m feeling. I totally expected an adrenaline rush, and something along the lines of a rollercoaster/fair ride. But I’m just gobsmacked for lack of a better word. It’s all just so surreal. At one point ‘my guy’ says ‘Are you still with me?!’ And I had to yell back ‘Yeah! This is just incredible, do you have many people faint on you?!’ Apparently it happens 🤷🏻♀️😂 but no. I was far from fainting. It was more like I was in a meditative mode than anything.
I even got to steer the parachute a little bit which was pretty cool, because I had NO IDEA how much control a parachutist actually has. We did a few spins (which did not help my motion sickness, but was so worth it) and then we went in for the landing. Which I was the most nervous about. But as soon as we got close enough to the ground, I was told to lift my legs like I’d been taught to, and for real it was like landing on a mountain of candy floss. It was such a smooth landing. Not what I was expecting at all!
So when we got up, instead of walking away on shaky legs (again which I thought would happen) it was like I’d just finished meditating. I honestly felt like I’d had a glass of wine and was in total relaxation mode. It’s such a strange thing to describe, because it’s exhilarating, yet relaxing all at the same time. Would I do it again?! In a HEARTBEAT! And I urge anyone who has the opportunity to, to take the plunge! It’s an experience I’ll never forget. And when you get to do it in the name of a good cause, that’s just kinda cool too 🥰
Calum!! (my guy 😂) and me!