Re: related...

Quote
JamesJM
sstrams and I were recently discussing our fear of heights and I mentioned that 'oddly' I'm not afraid of heights while in a plane, any plane, even small ones. But you reminded me of a much better example of 'odd'... when I slid out on the door of the plane before skydiving it didn't bother me in the least... OR... I should say, it wasn't the 'height' that I was thinking about. I was nervous to be sure.

I think I went into 'blank' mode... a knack I have for blocking stimuli when it's threatening... kind of like "Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses " from a "Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" that turn completely black so you can't see something terrible that's about to happen to you.

I use this same talent when getting a flu shot, or having blood drawn. - JamesJM

Pretty good, James.

This isn't exactly original, but I can say I'm not afraid of heights, either. I'm fine being in planes too. Give me a floor, no matter how high up, relatively speaking, and I'm golden. Loved climbing the tallest trees when I was a kid, too. Couldn't get enough of that. But I also wanted to climb strong and sturdy trees, and to be able to hold onto them when I looked down over my kingdom from on high.

In reality, it's not a fear of heights. It's a fear of hitting the ground from hundreds or thousands of feet above that ground. So the fear is really about "sea level," so to speak, not heights. It's a fear of smashing oneself to bits on the surface of the earth in some way. As long as I'm waaaay above it, I'm cool with the distance between us. It's the rapid, forced loss of serious separation that worries me.