Overcoming your worst fears is like diving into ice-cold water. There are a billion of other things you would rather do. Procrastinate, agonize, ignore, anything BUT take action.
And so I began a battle with myself; should I jump or should I not? I nervously climb the 25-foot ladder until it becomes brutally clear I might not be able to go through with it. I look down and I am paralyzed with fear. I am tied up with an unbearably tight belt and some guy is telling me to jump, while other twenty people are staring at me.
“It is harder to go down this way than back on the ladder. Just do it!”
I stand back even further as if my life depended on it. The more I wait, the worse it is; my heart is pounding faster and faster. And so, after 30 hellish seconds, I decide to reach into the air for that damn bar, fully depending on the instructor not to let go. I grip both my hands to it; there is no turning back.
“Are you ready?” I bend my knees as I dangle off the edge. “Huh,” he yells meaning jump in trapeze language, and off I leap into the air.
ARGHHH, I shriek into the air, feeling an unbelievable sense of release. I take a leap of faith, while a rush of endorphins take over my body. I bounce back and forth, like a five-year old.
Trapeze flying, just like life, is an endless exercise of practice, trust and letting go. And first times are never easy.
Big thanks to Gogobot NYC’s Community Manager, Jennifer Layne Cardon, and Guest Host, published author, Amazing Race and reality TV star, Rebecca Lynn Cardon, for hosting the 2nd “GO-and-TELL” and trapeze flying lessons at Streb Trapeze Academy in Brooklyn. Also thank you to Eddie Vega, our amazing photographer for the day.
“GO-and-TELL”: Global Adventures from Life Traveling with The Circus was an avant-garde experience to get a taste of what it means to be a circus performer. We experienced the art of trapeze-flying as well as other acts, and listened to their awe-inspiring travel stories and adventures.
Bobby Hedglin-Taylor led our experience through the circus arts and sharing his travel stories from 25 years on the road! Bobby’s career combines 25 years of theatrical expertise and 17 years of circus performance, to bring Aerial Dance to a whole new level! He has former students performing all over the world. Including Ringling Brothers, Cirque Du Soleil, Disney, Sea World, The Pickle Family Circus, Big Apple Circus, Cruise ships and Broadway. Bobby usually coaches privately, training circus professionals in aerial arts such as Spanish web, static and swing trapeze, cloud swing, aerial fabric (“Silks or Tissu” ), hammock, dance trapeze, Cord de Lisse, tight rope, and juggling. “I enjoy all aspects of height, flight and aerial dynamics. His philosophy is simple “Why Walk when you can fly?”
What have you done lately to overcome your worst fears?
Disclaimer: As Gogobot Pro 2013, I received a complimentary trapeze-flying lesson. However, all views are my own. Join Gogobot for a chance to meet other avid travelers always looking for new adventures.
