On Wednesday I called Lance and asked him if he was going to throw the hooks for my 2 point chest suspension. He replies "I'm washing my hands for it right now." Ok, the suspension was going to be on Saturday, but you've got to admire preparedness. I also called Jason and told him I was going to need 2 of his 6 gauge hooks because I was going to hang from my chest. Jason says "Cool! Are you really? That would be so BADASS if you do that!" He proceeds to tell me that it is a really intense suspension. I responded that "I don't know why I've got the urge to do this particular suspension right now, but I really want to do it."
At A Glance Author eliz Contact eliz@bme.anon IAM eliz When It just happened Artist Lance & Tim threw hooks Studio Amillion Location Austin, TX I spent the next few days obsessing about my upcoming chest suspension and trying to imagine what it was like. Saturday finally rolls around and at 3pm I hop in my car and head to Austin. I called Lance along the way and let him know my progress driving from Dallas to Austin. Normally this drive takes approximately 3 hours. This particular Saturday, however, there was construction on I35 which slowed my drive immensely. It took me 5 1/2 hours to get there. This did not make me happy at all.
Finally I arrived and met up with Lance. We wandered over to Jason's house and shortly thereafter went over to Amillion Tattoos and Body Piercing to get pierced for hooks. Jason was going to do a 2 point suicide suspension and I was going to do a 2 point chest suspension.
My previous 4 suspension had all been done with 8 gauge hooks. The 6 gauge hooks looked massive in comparison. The 6 gauge needles were even more intimidating. They looked huge! So I'm lying on my back on the piercing table, Lance and Tim are each holding on to a chunk of my flesh from my chest. Lance asks if I'm ready. I answered "No, I'm probably not ever going to be ready, so just pierce me already." Next thing I knew the giant 6 gauge hooks seamlessly followed those massive needles through my skin. It hurt, but at the same time it was so quick and seemed so effortless to get those hooks in place. It surprised me and I kind of felt that I got myself worked up for nothing.
I wait around the shop and watch Jason get pierced for his suspension as well. Then we all head back to Jason's house. As I make my entrance, some people react with surprise, others with excitement. So much anticipation and emotion seemed to emanate from the group that was there. The other Jason was also there. I'm glad he was, he had just helped out with my knee suspension two weeks before. He said that I would be the first female he'd seen hang from her chest, so he seemed really excited to be in attendance.
Lance gets the rig ready and then calls me over. We decide it would be easier for me to step off of something rather than be lifted for this suspension. I figured that was wise as well and obligingly stepped up on the step stool. Parachute cords are all tied up and everything is ready to go. Kat is positioned on the ladder to operate the chain hoist. At my requests, she adds more pressure to the hooks and I pull on them trying to get used to the sensations. I felt like I spent an awful long time hesitating about stepping off the stool. I'd keep moving to the edge of the step and then back up. I'd get so close to stepping off, then hesitate again. I so wanted to do it, but I wasn't getting that last bit of courage to make the step. Lance takes my hands and walks me off the step.
There I was hanging motionless from two hooks in my chest. I had no choice but to look towards the sky, but still I didn't really see it. I have no idea what the sky looked like that night or what anyone else was doing or where they were standing or what they were saying. I know I answered people as they asked how I was doing and I responded with concern over the difficulty I was having breathing. However it seemed so detatched that in some respects it felt like it was just me and the universe, but with the sensation that it is all too vast to see any one part of it in order to experience it as a whole.
And on the other hand, I was acutely aware of the fact that my upper body burned from my hooks radiating out and around. I had a burning sensation all the way up my neck. When I tried to bring my head upright, my chin rubbed against my extremely stretched skin. Skin which felt like it wasn't entirely mine at that moment. I also was having difficulty breathing and even commented on it a couple of times. But still I smiled.
After about 4 minutes, I asked if I could come down. While walking back over to the chairs, amidst congratulatory remarks from everyone, Lance reaches out and pulls out my hooks. I laughed and said how that part didn't hurt at all. My skin barely needed to be burped, perhaps it was because my suspension was so short or because I didn't swing around as I had with all my previous suspensions.
Though it was an extremely short suspension as far as the amount of time I spent in the air, it was also by far the most powerful. It felt in some ways like I'd given up all control due to the position from which I was suspended. And on the other hand I had taken complete control of myself by going in to face the challenge and succeed.
While I was in the air, I had no concept of what my body was doing. I couldn't feel what my face was showing. Consequently I felt very satisfied after the suspension when Lance told me "You're the first person I've ever seen smile during a chest suspension." I saw evidence of that smile in the pictures as I was looking at them after the suspension. And I know that I will suspend from my chest again.