Years of therapy couldn’t do what flying can do for your mental health.  Ever tried to meditate?  I have.  I read some books on Zen and tried to close my eyes and turn off my mind.  Try it.  Try to close your eyes and think about nothing.  Humor me….

How did it go?  Did your brain last a minute before it started drifting off and thinking about things, stuff, minutia?  Bet you can’t get it to stop either.  Monks go decades before they can do that.  They say that’s Nirvana.

Now, go fly an airplane.

How did that go?  I bet you didn’t think about anything but the moment for the duration of the flight.  Once you land and think back on it, it’s surreal how much your mind lives in the moment up there.  Nirvana.

Then there are the people. Airports attract the best people. There is no telling who you will meet. And contrary to popular belief, they won’t brag about who they are.  You could be talking to an astronaut, multi billionaire, celebrity, fighter pilot, or just a regular human who loves the same thing that you do: the sky and the machines.  I clearly remember talking to a gentleman for an hour to find out later he is the CEO of Hawaiian Airlines.  One great airport friend is a military pilot who has flown everything that starts with F in the Navy and Air Force.  This is not intended as some form of name dropping.  It is never about who is who in the zoo.  There is no competition or one-upmanship.  At the airport everyone is just an airport person.  Some just have incredible hangar stories to tell.

And finally, there are the airplanes.  The fantastic machines that mankind engineered to take us away from the cares of earthbound living.  Every one of them different.  Every one of them beautiful and full of their own character.   Every one of them a wonder of human ingenuity, craftsmanship and determination.

There is more.  Way more.  But by now, you are probably just thinking about flying.  So go.  See you up there.