"I am so proud of myself, I want to call my mom." this is one of the first things I say after having two 8 gauge needles shoved through the tough skin of my chest. I glance over at my bloody husband and he reminds me what a bad idea that is. I smile anyway and bask in the pleasure of knowing that I can handle what I just did. Steve gives me a pat on the back and Anna tells me I'm bad ass and all is right with the world, I'm going to do my first pull.
At A Glance Author Kristen Contact Kristen@bme.anon IAM snailer When It just happened Artist Steve Haworth Studio Steve's Saturday Suspension Party Location PHX, AZ For about 2 years I've been tossing around the idea of suspending and pulling. For the last 6 months I've had constant butterflies about it because I began actively seeking out how and when. I've known for quite awhile that living in Arizona I would go to Steve Haworth to do this, it was just a matter of getting a hold of him. I tried emailing him but waited a long time for a response, I was informed that the best way to get in touch may be to IM him on IAM. I had a response in 10 minutes. Conveniently enough there would be a suspension party the following weekend at his house. At this point I got up out of my computer chair and did the happy dance. I was taking hooks in two days and I wasn't even sure yet if Freddy, my husband, would do it with me like I wanted or not. It was time to have a big talk, and he surprised me by getting excited while I was still explaining it. A year ago he thought I was nuts for wanting to do this and now he's as excited as me, it was great.
Saturday finally arrived. I went out for a big dinner with my husband and then Freddy and Myself followed My cousin Janna and her friend Miko over to Steve's house. When we arrive there is a girl swinging happily around his back yard, at this point I get nervous. We put our names on the list and give a donation to Cookie to cover supplies, then we wait. During the wait I meet some great people, see some beautiful suspensions, and work on pacing a hole in the concrete.
Finally Miko's turn, we knew that after him we would be up. Miko did great and watching him do so well really calmed my nerves. While he was having a great time kicking off of cookie Steve came out to talk to us about what we wanted from our experience. I hadn't explained much to him prior to this but he totally picked up on what we wanted. He set up rigging so that we would still be able to touch each other throughout the pull and really listened to how intimate we wanted it to be. Steve rounded up 3 more people of hook wielding abilities and 4 skin pinchers and let us know that we could be hooked together. And then it was time.
I was scared. I haven't had a needle through my skin since my ill fated belly button almost 7 years ago and this was much different. Steve marked placement on both Freddy and I and as soon as Miko was done getting cleaned up, and the procedure room was ready again we went in and had a seat. Miko turned on his video camera and caught the whole procedure on film. Now Steve and the other 7 people involved in the procedure are trying to situate themselves around us and I am squeezing Freddy's fingers right off. We both got a good wipe down on our chest and then the skin pinching began. This is when I find out that I have super tough skin. I already knew my connective tissue was tighter than Freddy's but I didn't know how difficult this would make things. Once the Piercers got a look at Freddy's skin they were fighting over who would get to pierce him and no one even wanted to pinch me. Steve rearranged people as he saw best to deal with the situation. I had Jeremy and Anna on pinching duty and Steve and Cory hooking me. I'm not sure who pinched Freddy but I know Cookie and Evan were throwing his hooks.
This is when Steve explains things. He let us know how the pinchers will roll our skin off the muscle then he will ask if we are ready (to everyone,) then say "deep breath in, exhale, quick stick." I remember him reassuring me that I could do it and then everything started. I don't think Freddy could feel his hand anymore at this point but I was squeezing it as if the harder I squeezed it the less pain there would be. Steve's voice was so calm when he said to take a deep breath in, and even when he said "quick stick." it remained soft and reassuring, I was still nervous but I completely trusted him. My skin was so tough that I could feel the shoving it took by both Steve and Cory to get it through, the tip of the needle felt hot inside of my skin. The piercing rolled my skin right out of Anna's fingers, I had my eyes closed but I could hear her saying she was sorry to me and to Cory over and over, they got hold of my skin again and got the needle through right on target. On the other side I could feel more, I think Jeremy was pinching my skin much harder because that side felt hot, almost like it was burning. I can't say that it hurt though. All I felt was the burning and I think the most painful part was the pinching. The needle is a short, I think 2 inch 8 gauge and the hooks sit right in the needle. The piercing seemed so much smoother than some that I've seen where you are pierced and then the hook is slid in after. This way it was a smooth transition and it all happens so fast.
For a while all I could say was that I had done it. Steve let me know that my skin was so tough that if he ever got in a motorcycle crash he would want to do it with me so that he could use me to skid across the ground since I probably wouldn't road rash too bad. As soon as it set in that I didn't cry or pass out I was so proud of myself. I wanted to call my mom and let her know what I could do, but she doesn't understand what I do to my body, not even the part about being a vegetarian, so getting pierced in the chest just so I could tug on it would be quite a stretch for her to understand. Freddy told me I did really well and I couldn't help but look at him in amazement when I realized he had actually done it with me.
We walked outside to do our pull. We stood up about a foot and a half from each other and Steve hooked us together. Anna let me know that if I need anything to talk to her she would be taking care of me. We started out just leaning back a bit, this is the hardest part because for me it was about control. I got a little shockey and had to sit down. Steve was right there, he held onto me, unhooked me and sat me down. Anna ran and got a Sprite and a kind soul who was watching gave me a pack of giant Smarties. I consumed more sugar right then than I had all week. I felt better instantly but I decided I wanted to do this sitting on the ground. We were so close that it was hard not to lock your knees which is so conducive to fainting that I much rather wanted to sit and do it. Steve said it would be fine so we got on the ground wrapped our legs around one another and got hooked together again.
This time I could pull harder. I never tugged real bad but our pull was more about energy between us than an endorphin rush tug of war. It's very hard to let go of control over the pain. Steve was so encouraging, he comes right up beside you and says it's OK to let go and in your minds eye to allow the pain to move all the way to your toes and fingertips. I'm more of an embracer of pain than an ignorer so his advice really was simple to follow, and helped so much. A few minutes in to the pull Freddy and I both really connected and for a while I didn't notice any of the people around, or the music, or the camera flashes there was nothing except this energy between Freddy and I. I could feel his breath through the ropes and hooks right into my chest where it mixed with my breath and went back to him. There was the faint beat of his heart permeating my body. It felt like a dance and it was beautiful. After we shared this moment, I don't know how long it was but a few minutes at least, we had some fun with it. When we would laugh we could feel each others chuckles. I found out that I could beat the rhythm of the music on the ropes and feel it under my skin. We tried pulling at slightly different angles and had a good time with it. I let Freddy know that whenever he was ready that I had experienced what I wanted and we could stop if he wanted. So when he was done we got up and went in.
Sitting on the procedure table again the nervousness begins all over. Cookie and Anna assured us that this part was easy and it turns out that it was. They lubed up the hooks and slid them right out. We both bled a bit and Freddy had already formed a bruise on the entry hole of his left hook. Neither of us had sucked any air so there was no sub-q emphysema to squeeze out, but they tried anyway and there were no bubbles. We were each given one of our hooks to keep and plan on framing them with a picture of the pull in a shadow box to have forever.
Next my cousin Janna and her friend Suzy did their pull and then we went home. It was a beautiful night, we didn't get home until after 4 AM and had a tee time set in 2 1/2 hours. So we cleaned up a bit and headed out to the golf course. It was a long morning but we both felt so great all we could talk about was going back to Steve's and doing it all again.
Anyone in Arizona (or anywhere for that matter) interested in suspension or pulling should contact Steve Haworth. It was definitely one of the best experiences of my life, it ranks right up there with getting married. Everyone who helps out is wonderful and the party has such a great atmosphere. You feel entirely supported by everyone whether you are suspended and swinging in crazy circles or can't get off the ground for more than a minute, or you tug someone down the street or if you only can pull for a little bit, everyone gets a round of applause and constant encouragement. I can't wait to do it again.