As I sit here by my candle I should be reflecting on the beautiful golden sunsets I experienced last week while staying at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire. I was there for the annual writers’ summer school and was amazed by the stunning sunsets over the gardens and lakes there. Another quite spectacular sight in the clear night skies was the Perseid meteor shower, which I caught a glimpse of late on Tuesday evening.
But instead of reflecting on shooting stars and creamy twilight skies, what comes to my mind is a less expansive and more compact experience: that of sitting in an airplane seat on a long haul flight. A recent item on the BBC News website has reminded me of my long haul air travel experience. It is only a few months ago since I was on a long haul flight to Canada so the article caught my eye.
Apparently there is a new craze designed to tackle the boredom and inertia that can accompany long haul travel. It involves sitting in silence and looking straight ahead at the seat in front of you without the mini TV screen switched on for the length of the flight. You are sitting there looking straight ahead with no films or music (or phone or I pad) to divert or entertain you. This highly disciplined exercise has been extended to not partaking of food or drink or walking along the aisle or using the loo. The aim of the task is to see how long you can sit absolutely still on the flight.
The exercise goes by the unseemly title of ‘raw dogging’ which is apparently a nickname for unprotected sex. I suppose the term means that the person is, in this way, flying unprotected from boredom or inertia. One young footballer achieved this on a seven and a half hour flight and another footballer has succeeded in sitting unmoved for thirteen and a half hours. It is clear that these testosterone-fuelled young men are treating the exercise as a male endurance test. Could it become an Olympic sport, I ask myself, with a plane full of judges and spectators? It would be rather difficult to concentrate and maintain stillness in that situation, I think.
As might be expected, the medical profession have pointed out the dangers of the exercise: the risk of dehydration in an airplane cabin without taking any liquids and the need for some kind of sustenance on a long flight. Failure to take a little walk in the aisle over a length of time can lead to deep vein thrombosis in the leg and it is obviously not advisable to avoid using the loo over a length of time either.
Nevertheless I can see a value in engaging in such an exercise for a short period of time on a long journey, perhaps in between the in-flight meals. Sitting still and looking ahead for a little while can help you to digitally detox, to clear the mind of the endless daily stimulation we experience and indeed crave, to recharge the batteries of our mind, to refocus our mental energies. To stop, think and reflect. To meditate. To find our centre again.
Perhaps these footballers found the exercise useful in this way: to rid their minds of the noise of the cheering (and baying) crowds, to step out of the tense, competitive atmosphere of their careers and to relax their minds so as to be mentally alert for the split-second decisions they will have to make in their next game.
Long haul flights can seem tedious and can be mind-numbing. I have often used them to catch up on my reading or my music – I recommend a long novel or opera! I remember on a ten hour flight to San Francisco I spent time with a script and notebook preparing my millennium school production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. I had every scene prepared before we touched down.
Perhaps the exercise would be most appropriate when the lights are dimmed in a night flight. Or did those two soccer players actually doze off when the lights went out? I wouldn’t blame them if they did. I find it difficult to follow movies on those small airline screens and when the lights are dimmed, if I can’t sleep, my eyes will wander to the screen of the passenger beside me, or, as I usually have an aisle seat, the screens of two or three passengers across the aisle. I once watched parts of the classic movie ‘The Godfather’ that way. It was silent to me of course but I easily followed it. Well, I had seen it quite a few times before anyway.
There is a value in making the most of what appears to be ‘dead time’. I have learnt this as I use public transport a great deal. I must confess to being rather dismissive of these two young soccer players when I read the article. I thought it might be some kind of publicity stunt. But regardless of the competitiveness of their endurance test I am sure they have benefited from the exercise and may be enriching their lives in the process. At the least they may be in some way better mentally prepared for the demands and challenges of their profession.
They have had the courage to be still; to be silent – and not in a room on their own but among other people in an airplane cabin. It does take courage to be silent in our noisy overstimulated world. Because in the silence, we find ourselves.
I am also grateful to them. They have reminded me to make the most of my next long haul flight. And that I can be still, silent, reflective and centred sitting in my aisle seat in an airplane as much as sitting on a bench in a beautiful garden watching the stars fall down.
Ave atque Vale
Neilus Aurelius
If you are enjoying my blog, and have not already done so, please sign up below to receive notification of each new blog by e mail. Just add your e mail to ‘Follow’ as it pops up.
And please do pass on the blog address to others who may be interested.
I would also value any feedback on nzolad53@gmail.com or my Facebook p
The Hayes Conference Centre
Swanwick Writers’ Summer School
Derbyshire
Perseids
Meteor Shower
BBC News Website
Long Haul Travel
In Flight Entertainment
Canada
Professional Football
‘Raw Dogging’
Olympics
Dehydration
Deep Vein Thrombosis
Meditation/Contemplation
San Francisco
Millenium
‘Romeo and Juliet’
Meditations of Neilus Aurelius 