Happy Independence Day to me! Since the first time I saw pictures of flesh pulls I thought I wanted to try it, then when I actually got to witness people pulling I knew I had to try it. I did my first pull a little over a year ago and I was pleased with myself for doing it, but just didn't feel like it was my 'thing', it was not a bad experience but I just didn't feel like it was something I wanted to do ever again. That all changed on July 4, 2005.
At A Glance Author hbakabarbie Contact hbakabarbie@bme.anon IAM hbakabarbie When A month ago Location Raleigh, NC I got up around 10:45 that morning, planning on going to a BBQ at a local piercers' home, where he would be doing pulls and suspensions for those that wanted to. We arrived around 1 and started cooking food, I met a few new people, and got to see a lot of friends I don't get to see very often. Around 4pm people started getting hooks to do suspensions. I love watching people do suspensions; they almost always look like they are having so much fun! People started talking about whether they wanted to do a pull or a suspension; most everyone wanted to do a suspension that day. After watching a few people get hooks and rigged up to suspend, I almost felt jealous of them, it was an odd feeling to me, I'm usually happy for them and have very positive feeling and thoughts when I'm around them. I was happy for them but I felt like I needed to have hooks too!
I was sort of disappointed because there really was no one to pull against. Sure I could have tied myself up to the fence but that just didn't seem fun, what kind of energy does a fence have anyway? Then the opportunity arose, one person who was pulling was having an off day and couldn't continue. I asked the other person if they would be ok pulling with me, they were all for it! I just needed some hooks and rope.
I obviously did not come prepared to do a pull. I was surrounded by good friends (and good food), I couldn't have been in a better mood. I knew my mindset was in a perfect place and I could handle this challenge! I had on the wrong type of shirt for getting hooks, so my biggest dilemma was deciding if I could walk around in front of all those people with no shirt on. No one seemed to mind, so why should I! Usually when I am about to get pierced I get a nervous, anxious feeling, but that never came. I sat down in the chair, my back was cleaned and marked. I didn't really seem to have any nervousness at all. The first time I pulled the same thing happened until my skin was actually grabbed and I was asked if I was ready, I went straight to panic mode. This time all I need was a hand to hold. I did get slightly nervous just about the time I took a deep breath in, but then it disappeared and the first hook was in. It felt like a hard pinch and nothing more. When the second hook was ready, I did get a little nervous thinking it might hurt a little more than the first, but it was just as easy as the first. After it was done it stung a little and was very tight feeling. The stinging went away fairly quickly, and I worked my arms around a little to help ease the tight feeling.
I got the rope and I was hooked up to my pulling buddy. I had to start very slow and work my way into it. At first I thought I might not be able to pull very hard at all, then very slowly we both started to pull a little harder. At some points I thought I was not going to be able to keep up with the other person but I took a deep breath and reassured myself and it felt great. After awhile I just put my feet about hip width apart and leaned over as far as I possibly could and let the other persons weight hold me up. At some points I felt like I was about to fall over but my spotter kept reassuring me they would not let me fall. I felt like we had been pulling for hours but I think it was only 20-30 minutes when we stopped. The other person had been pulling for almost 2 hours and was just too tired to continue. I felt like I could've stayed like that all night. There was no pain. I kept asking my spotter 'is the other person even pulling against me'? I could barely feel anything. They assured me the other person was pulling just as much as I was.
This was an amazing experience for me this time around. I had never imagined I would even attempt to do a pull again, especially this soon. I am so glad that I did. I left my first experience thinking I would never do it again; I left this experience with anticipation of my next opportunity!