Jumping is hard - falling is easy

I think this title was originally used by Peter Mohrbacher (if anybody knows otherwise, please point it out to me) and is about the short film 'Ten meter tower'


HOPPTORNET (TEN METER TOWER) by Axel Danielson & Maximilien Van Aertryck from Plattform Produktion on Vimeo.

Everybody struggles with it, the fear of doing something scary because it might be dangerous. There are of course moments in which this anxiety is healthy. But there are many situations in which anxiety is not necessary and thus is holding you back.

To tell you a bit about me: I come from a family of anxious people. This is no joke: My grandmother fainted when my grandfather played a prank on her. Since I freeze when I get scared I like to think of myself as a human possum ;) . Furthermore, everything I do has to be planned way ahead, possibly with plan B to Z. This is a good skill to have because most of the time I am prepared for nearly everything and even if things go wrong I stay calm.

But... it also keeps me from taking risks, even in moments in which nearly nothing bad could happen. The film shows how hard it is for us humans to take a risk if our body and mind say “Don't do it!! Bad things will happen! Maybe you will die!!” even if the risk is of this is very low when jumping from a tower in a pool.

With this post I want to encourage everybody to take calculated risks! Especially if this involves getting out of your comfort zone. For me personally I made 2017 the year of 'de-scaring' myself.
First of I got a tattoo — I always wanted to have one but always found a reason for not getting one.
I attended three major art events — IFCC, THU and Playgrounds. A massive amount of people and talent in a very intense environment. So many reasons to get anxious: I hate flying, not only the hassle of being at an airport, but mostly the physical sensation of flying and the constant irrational fear of crashing. I dislike large groups and moving around in them and then the socialising and “What if nobody likes my art!?”
and — I got a car and I am (still) learning how to drive. With this I won't go into details, but it's a big one for me and stressed me out most of this year.

Nothing bad has happened by meeting my very irrational fears head on!
Quite the opposite: I've got to meet great people, had many meaningful conversations and got to fill my heart with new impressions and experiences.
To everybody out there who is struggling with their own personal demon: Don't let them hold you back. Jump from the ten-meter tower, even if it takes you a couple of times to bring up the courage, even if you rather let yourself fall into the depth instead of making a big leap. You will feel yourself grow with every jump you take!