Hey Vanessa here. I can't believe it, but Nocturne is heading into its eighth year and we're coming up on the one-year anniversary of being an independent podcast again after parting ways with our friends at KCRW.

It was a bittersweet parting in the midst of a tumultuous year, but I'm here to say that I celebrate you, Nocturne listeners, and I really, really celebrate the amazing folks who support this show by donating what they can to help me keep making it.

So in the spirit of celebration, we're having a limited time special offer on Patreon for the next month. I've made delightful little Nocturne treat bags with beautiful Nocturne stickers and some other little surprises.

And if you join and support the show on Patreon in the next 30 days at the $5 a month tier or higher, you'll get all the existing benefits, and I'll send you one of these bags of treats along with a handwritten note expressing my tremendous gratitude.

Head over to patreon.com slash Nocturne podcast now to become a regular supporter. Again, that's patreon.com slash Nocturne podcast.

This offer is also available to existing patrons, increasing their pledge to $5 a month or more. If you already support Nocturne at that level and this special offer makes you sad, please let me know that you really want to sticker, because I don't want you to be sad.

I need to make a disclaimer here. The story you're about to hear is about something that is dangerous, illegal, and I don't recommend it, at all.

You're listening to Nocturne. I'm Vanessa Lowe.

I was 23 and I did a tandem skydive in Chicago because my friend wanted to do one for his birthday. So when they opened the door of the airplane,

you get this rush of cold air that when you're flying on a commercial airline, they don't open the doors. If they do, there's something that's gone really seriously wrong.

But you get this blast of cold air and there's this particular smell that comes with being at that high of an altitude. It's just really crisp air.

I can remember that pretty distinctly even though that was almost 13 years ago.

They start scooting you toward the door and you don't really have much say in this because you're strapped to a person who's pushing you slowly toward this door.

Then they'll get you in the door and then they'll do the count and they'll go 321 and at that point your brain just is taking in so much information that it's never experienced before.

Some people almost black out a little bit but the brain does this weird thing where it's releasing all these chemicals to try and get you to be able to adapt to what the brain thinks is you jumping to your death.

When really, it's just a tandem skydive.

But at the time, they put you in the door and it was like, oh man, I don't know if I want to do this.

But it's like anything in life that's scary as soon as you take the first step and you get into that unknown realm, magic happens and you go, oh wait, this really isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

So in the actual free fall, you're screaming, you're smiling, you're drooling and just all these wonderful things are happening and the parachute opens and then your brain is trying to process the fact that you went up in an airplane but now you're here floating in the sky like a bird.

So at the first time you do that it's a very powerful experience.

The moment that your foot leaves the plane and you're committed to the jump, it's a very liberating moment.

You've just taken a big leap both physically, metaphorically into an unknown area of your life.

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