free fall

It must be exhilarating to jump from a plane and fall, tumble, and glide through the air. The trust one would place in the parachute must be absolute, and so the jump and fall must be an incredible feeling of freedom.

Imagine the same free fall, but add the uncertainty of whether the parachute was packed and checked correctly. Was a cord in the wrong place? You’ll find out in twenty more seconds – a period during which you’ll cycle through a myriad emotions.

Imagine the same free fall, but with the almost certain knowledge that the parachute has been sabotaged. Perhaps it’s the ‘almost’ which creates the torture.

How might we enjoy or endure the free fall in each case? The sky is the same; our descent is the same, and whatever our feelings, the sun will rise tomorrow.

Yet the context has changed for us, if not for observers. Our context, in many ways, shapes our experience.