Pilots are not passengers

That heli ride threw me for a loop.

I love the experience of being in a helicopter. It's a serene, peaceful feeling, floating up that high, moving kinda slow, having that breathtaking view. It makes me feel...well, free as a bird.

But watching Cynthia fly the Schweitzer (and watching Kelly in the Cessna) made me realize that piloting is busy work, demanding sharp mental focus and nearly constant coordinated multi-tasking. You don't get to sit around and watch the clouds and the hills and the tiny people on the baseball diamond like you do if you are a passenger. I know that's obvious, but somehow I didn't think of it.

So I cringed: What the hell am I doing? Do I really want to spend this huge amount of money and spend all this time to learn a skill that may not even be the experience I'm seeking? Should I just stick the money in a bank account and use it to pay for helicopter rides whenever I feel like it? (It would pay for a lot.)

And while I'm on the subject, the expense already had me a little hesitant. Not to mention the fact that this endeavor will demand considerable ongoing expense and time (in helicopters) just to maintain a safe level of competence, let alone improve skills.

So I got a little spun out. Especially since I'm already committed with time off work, air fare, and so on. And all my family and friends know my plan. How embarrassing to back out!! (Ironically, I had actually made a point of telling people, to challenge myself with the potential public failure; until now, all my life I've been the type to go learn something in secret and then arrive with it already done.)

After the helicopter ride, I was pretty distressed about the whole thing. I didn't touch a textbook all week. I wondered how I might back out gracefully, and pondered other ways to spend my time in Hawaii.

Then last night, I was talking with a friend about my trip, and his enthusiasm brought me back around a bit. And this morning, I had bizarre experience. I woke up early (spontaneously), and started randomly looking at popular YouTube videos. I clicked on a video by Nelly Furtado (just watch the first few seconds):



The coincidence was amusing. It made me smile. I also thought, Wow, they sure made that helicopter look cool. Maybe this will be fun after all! I was about to click on something else, when I saw the link to this next one. I've never heard of this band or song, and I actually started to scroll away without clicking, but then something pulled me back to it:



Yeah. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Either helicopters are the new must-have in music videos, or...synchronicity? Well, onward to flight school, let's see what happens.