As a kid like most, I was deathly afraid of heights! Anything from riding elevators, to standing at the edge of a balcony on a 2 story house, riding roller coasters, anything that had involved heights WAS NOT FOR ME!
As I got older I developed a tolerance, and even a desire for adventure and thrills. Heights slowly became less of a fear of mine. I started liking roller coasters, I could finally stand near the edge of the Grand Canyon, or jump off a friends roof into their pool below. I have no idea where it came from, but now that thirst for adventure and risk taking is just there!
The other day while on a commercial shoot, I found myself atop a downtown LA rooftop 20+ stories up above the LA city streets. My buddy and Director of the shoot Dave Farese and I were hanging out on the roof while we waited for the talent/hair and makeup people to arrive on set (As directors know, we’re always waiting on hair and makeup!). We walked over to the edge of the building where it seemed to endlessly drop 20+ stories below and Dave’s knees began to buckle. I was a little more reckless as I leaned up against the edge looking over and below. I joked about the videos I had recently seen on the web of the “stupid” people that would scale dangerously high buildings and just hang off of the edge by just their hands and no extra support.
The more I talked about it and reflected on those videos the more I wanted to try and do it, thinking I could do that! Although, I knew hanging off the side of a 20+ story building was NOT the smartest thing in the world to do, the thought remained, What if? I worked my way up by just sitting on the edge, 1 foot dangling off the side of the building and the other planted firmly on the rooftop floor. (I took a snapchat cause I thought it was badass!) This gave me the courage to push it one step further and swing both feet out over the edge while I rested my body securely on the ledge. At this point I handed my phone to Dave and told him to take a picture as I drifted further off the edge. He began snapping pictures as I hung there for 30 seconds or so. As I hung there I kept telling him to get as many angles as possible, he looked at me as if I was insane, but continued to snapped away. After he grabbed a sufficient amount of pictures to my standard, I swung my legs back over and pulled my self up, looking back down below to what I had just done. I JUST HUNG OF THE EDGE OF A 300+ FOOT BUILDING!
I felt like I had accomplished something. It was a VERY dumb thing to do with absolutely no reward and all risk, but somehow I felt accomplished! I had overcome a fear, and pushed myself out of my comfort zone to achieve something I had never down before, and it felt good!
Then I thought, my parents are not going to be happy when they see this!
L.I.V.E. - Learn, Invest, Visualize, Execute
-Jakob
