There are a few things in life that really scare me, jumping off a tall structure with nothing but a bungy cord strapped to my ankles preventing me from breaking through the boundary between here and eternity being one of them.
Never mind the possibility of the cord snapping, or your feet slipping out of the harness like they would out of a pair of size-12 clogs, or the stretch in the cord not being calibrated to your mass and velocity.
Even if everything could be 100 per cent guaranteed to go flawlessly, the thought of raising my arms, looking into the abyss, then deliberately falling into it, gives me the willies.
And speaking of willies, how do you like the notion of standing up there on that platform, arms raised as if you were convinced the Gospel was on your side, getting ready to kiss the earth hello and goodbye in the same instant, stark raving naked.
That’s right! Starkers in every sense of the word! My teeth are chattering just thinking about it, and it’s not the cold that’s got to me, despite the fact that this feat takes place in February.
I mean, leaping into the abyss from a hundred-and-fifty foot gang plank, clad in nothing but the skin you were born with... the thought makes me cringe.
But that’s what the good folks at the BC Schizophrenia Society are inviting me to do. Feb. 20 and 21 is Naked Bungy Jump weekend, when a bunch of jumpers are preparing to face my worst nightmare…
It doesn’t bare imagining. Would you do it if your mother was there, watching?
You would? Well, you’re a braver spirit than me, and I take my hat off to you (but nothing else) because the Naked Bungy Jump is a good cause – a naked leap of faith on behalf of people with schizophrenia.
If you want to find out more go to wildplay.com/nakedbungyjump or call 1-855-595-2251. Up to 160 people will be able to jump, and the BCSS hopes each of the participants will raise at least $85 to help them reach a $30,000 objective.
The cost to jump starts $55, if you’re prepared to go totally naked; $129.99, if you’d rather keep your clothes on; free, if you raise pledges of $200 or more.