THE BULL IN THE AIR 2010-07-10 Fly. Without an engine. You must think I am crazy. Why not walk on water ? Today, you can take off on your own two feet. Why would you do that ? To fulfil one of man's oldest dreams : to feel free like a bird. We are not flapping our wings yet but we can soar and catch rising air currents, thermals, to fly long distances. What makes the pilot tick ? What's the kick ? What's the trick ? As with sailors and landlubbers, a lot of people can't understand why we can't be satisfied with staying safely on the ground. Is it a desire to explore, an attraction to a myth ? This seems to lie deep in some of our genes. Our spirits want to rise. We want to leave our worries and earthly body behind for a new world. The material world and the materialistic one both require a safety valve. We know Icarus was warned of the dangers, and if we are risk takers we are not gamblers. We know we cannot control the elements, but modern technology can help us for a better communication between nature and our body. We want to feel part of nature. The less technology interferes, the better. We want to swim like fish. We want to be the dolphin playing in the waves, with the hope that we will feel one with the universe, including our fellow human beings, with whom we would like to share the exhilarating experience. It rarely happens like that, of course. But subconsciously we try. And consciously we decide to take off. Who would deny this keeps the adrenaline flowing ? Your acquired experience helps you figure out what to expect from the air. Nevertheless there is still mystery. There is fluid dynamics and temperature changes. Our brain makes up for a lack of instinct. No doubt there is more of a Hemingway dimension if you take off in the Himalayas than if you take off from a sand dune. Not all bullfighters are the same. Not all the old men know how to hook the big fish : but you have to catch something to keep yourself flying, you have to hook and hunt. You don't want to become the hunted and haunted. If there is a fight with a thundercloud guess who gets killed in the corrida… So we try to avoid the big fight. We might even be looking for harmony, for the silent final glide in the smooth evening air. You have to be able to master a few things in your interaction with nature to achieve that. A kiss landing comes as an achievement after a good flight, particularly if you manage to land where you set your goal, which is difficult, so there is often a lot of frustration. The flight is a story in itself, self-contained. You need a clear head to make the right decisions. Are you going to drift with the wind, or head on a precise course? This sounds like a metaphor for life. A bee-line to this point, then get some more altitude, get your spirits together. Where next ? Ups and downs. Forget about ground level concerns. You are in the third dimension. Is it time or height ? Sometimes you float in a bubble, you are lost in a circling tower of many vultures. All this is not simply because it is there. It is because you decided to run to get some lift out of the air flow on your wings. There is a renewed challenge each time. Will the laws of nature work again ? Can you turn them to your advantage ? You have to do it right; fledglings often abort their attempts, sometimes paying dearly. Surfers take off too; if they get it wrong they wipe out. Get into the spiral of a thermal and it could be like the tube of a wave. It takes care of you like the womb. It is a virgin part of nature. Nobody has been there before. It is the primeval spiral, the original shell that you seize from the ground up. You are not going to fall back to earth. If you know what to do. If you have learned. Ultimately it is about knowledge, like the living, the dead and those who sail on the sea. Today, we can sail on thin air, navigate currents, skim mountains. The white caps are snow peaks. Almost effortless gliding for the lazy and crazy who do not want to hike up the trodden path. Witchcraft or elitism ? Merlin's magic wand, reaching a place where you are fit to meditate on a newly acquired wisdom, for the rather short time of your life. The perception of time is relative, I am told : this is the time of your life. Your rhythm. You have to make the most of it. Death comes at the end of the day, life's cycle of day and night. In this case, there is dignity in losing. At least, in this flight there is one practical question you should be able to answer : "where do I come from ?" Does this mean Eureka or Bingo? I don't know, but man has already spent some time and money to find answers. Of course you have to ask the right questions. So all this is only a matter of personal choice. Freedom to ask, or to limit your horizon. You will have to take your own decision. To fly or not to fly? Pascal Legrand Visiteurs : 590 Back to home