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jay81

why I STARTED B.A.S.E why DID YOU?

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a side note too--- have you ever noticed on THE LIST. in the "outside the sport" list..........how many suicides. and not to mention all the risky behavior. but mostly the suicides. doesn't seem like alot of 100% happy people (i know nobodys 100%).
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Yeah but dude it doesn't mean these people got into BASE because of their depression and wanting to die. I'm pretty new to BASE, but I can tell you that I've climbed with countless people over the years that were down about their life and in turn they climbed high-risk hard alpine routes because it made them feel like they were doing something that was meaningful to them.

I kinda understand what you're saying about your own situation with having the "nothing to lose so why not?" attitude, or feeling unsatisfied with your life. (I've had feelings like this myself, but it wasn't what pushed me to try BASE). But the truth is a shrink would probably tell you that your reason for getting into BASE is not because you wanted to die, but rather to find something that gives you a greater sense of meaning. You're probably someone that goes through extreme high's and low's depending on what day of the week it is. And it just so happens that the sports involving a great deal of risk give you a high that makes you forget about all the other bad shit in your life that you don't like. And that's why BASE is obviously good for you; it makes you a happier person.


People that want to die put a bullet through their head. They don't fuck around by wasting their time doing something that might kill them someday.

I don't think wanting to die led you to BASE dude; people who want to die feel that there is nothing worth living for, not even BASE.

Also, in your original post you said something about how BASE has given you more than any woman could or something like that. I think this demonstrates even further what I am getting at. It sounds like you probably have had a relationship(s) in the past that. . . .when it was healthy and things were going along good, you were on a high and life was good. But when the relationship ended and things were shitty and you ended up hurt, you naturally want a quick emotional fix for those moments when you feel like life sucks. That's where BASE comes in. All you have to do is jump and for a brief period before, during, and after the jump, you're on an emotional high, regardless of what that bitch from you're past did to you!

I hate to go all shrink on ya, but that's .02 for what its worth.

Me. . . .I got into BASE because I like the feeling I get from being scared of something, and then being able to overcome it. I also like unique the sub culture associated with BASE. I've got a fragile ego. Most non jumpers can't deal with the thought of jumping off shit with a parachute. And therfore my ego gets a charge from that because I feel like I know something that most others will never know. And I think thats representative of the greater BASE culture in general. That's why I climb. That's why I skydive. And that's ultimately what led me to try BASE.

. . . .this is an interesting thread. I know it's been discussed here before by others, but every once in awhile it's good to hear what everyone has to say about it.

Cheers,

JP

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Hey Tom,
wasn't your original "I wanna die" motivation somehow related to a breakup?

It's funny to me how some people get all emotional and say they wanna base jump cuz they have nothing left to live for.

None of you have any clue about having nothing left to live for cuz you're all still alive, and no one close to you has ever truly believed that either otherwise you'd have personal experiences with suicide and you wouldn't think it would be so cool to say stuff like, "back then I felt like I had nothing to live for"

Half of you Base jump so you can say you base jump, that's the fact that you all find hard to admit.

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Dunno Jimmy.
I thought JP had it nailed with what he wrote.
I started skydiving by chance at a real low time in my life where I needed something like that.
I started BASE jumping at a very strange time in my life. There had been three deaths of close family, I had just gotten married and there was a daughter on the way.
BASE gives me the same as surfing. Like JP said, I'm scared and i get a boost from overcoming that fear. It's also my escape when life gets too much.
I saw an interview before I even contemplated the idea of pursuing skydiving as a sport. Nick or some of the older guys can correct me but it was an interview of Frank Gambalie where he said something like: "BASE is not about defying death but rather living life to the fullest". These are probably not his exact words but in essence that's the message i kept from the documantary and the idea I had of BASE from there on.
The bums will never win Lebowski, the bums will never win!
Enfin j'ai trouvé:
Bieeeen

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Nick or some of the older guys can correct me but it was an interview of Frank Gambalie where he said something like: "BASE is not about defying death but rather living life to the fullest". These are probably not his exact words but in essence that's the message i kept from the documantary and the idea I had of BASE from there on.



exatly, thats what it is...thank you. you said it...
piece, and please have fun for a while if you can....

_____________________________________________
F......ck the Finns !!!
FastPete www.pete.fi email: [email protected]

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Yeah,
I think that's my point. You might actually hate your life so much that you feel like you have nothing left to live for, but if you start BASE jumping at that point, then it neccessarily proves that at the very least you believe that the act of BASE jumping might change some aspect of your life therebye making it worth living again and that very idea is worth living for which is something even in the midst of the darkest depression.

However, if you actually say that you started BASE jumping because you wanted to die because you had nothing left to live for, so what the hey? Why not die doing something cool?

Well then that proves that you don't know what you are talking about when it comes to your own life and motivations and therefore you should be the last person on the planet making judgements about other people and their motivations especially in the capacity as moderator of this forum.

Here's why I BASE jump, using lyrics from Faith no More:

Q. "Why do you do what you do?"

A. "I do what I wanna do."

Q. "Who said you could do what you do?"

A. "I told you who, told me to. I do what I wanna do"

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pretty much... i just BASE jump because i'm a total loser otherwise and when people find out i that i jump they are suddenly intrigued and think i'm neat. then i trick them into buying me drinks.

oh, and chicks dig it too.:P

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BAAAA HAAAAA HA HA HAAA HA HAAAA.

that is realy pathetic. and you are serious too.

"oh booo hooo, I am a white educated american in the US with plenty of free time on my hands and even money... boo hoo, I have nothing to live for."

BAAA HAAA HA

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Hey blitzkrieg,
your post isn't original cuz I said that first:

I said,

"Half of you Base jump so you can say you base jump."

What I wrote is what you meant.

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Anyway,
Tom will never experience another moment in his life where he feels worthless.

This forum has given his life a meaning that I'm sure he never expected as a young closet homosexual.

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This forum has given his life a meaning that I'm sure he never expected as a young closet homosexual.


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He he. (Sorry Tom)

Jesus!

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WOW.........that's some heavy stuff.......I thought deep about it for.........5 seconds........it's really sad if that's why anyone started jumping......Myself I grew up during the Foreign Substance induced 70's and 80's and lost my fear of Death back then....didn't even think about Skydiving or Base until the late 90's....and then I got involved not because I didn't have anything to live for or wanted a way out....i did cause I was BORED......after my first Jump...I said Yeah that's what we were looking for (we is me and myself) I generally don't tell people I meet that I even Jump......cause it's for me......that's why I do it........just my coupl of cents.

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914 you seem to have a very naive view of what depression is. You seem to think it's purely causal. Something must have happened to cause it - Relationship problems, money problems, hardship and adversity. It may come as surprise to you to learn that for many, depression and suicidal thoughts are not linked to anything tangible in their lives, but are purely the products of a chemical imbalance - an under availabilty (so to speak) of the neurotransmitter serotonin. That is where drugs like prozac come in. They inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, making it more available. Serotonin is associated with the brains ability to create a happy, contented state.

It is now widely believed in scientific circles that many people who produce low levels of serotonin (depressives) - compensate for it by participating in high risk taking in order to stimulate the brains production of the euphoria inducing adrenaline.

Put simply, although many people are unaware of it, they may BASE jump in order to activate their adrenaline response in order to compensate for their lower serotonin levels.

This isn't simply - BASE jumping makes them feel happy or euphoric. It is more BASE jumping makes them feel normal again. Human again. Alive again. It lifts the blackness.


I am no scientist but this rings so true.

I started BASE jumping at a point in my life when I was in my (what i call now) black state. The walls were closing in on me for no reason and as unpalatable as suicide felt, it seemed at the time to be a perfectly good solution to the torment i was in. I'll go further in fact. It was THE perfect solution, the only real solution.

Only a person who has been in this mental state will appreciate what I have just written. If you think you can rationalise your way out of it then you really have no understanding of that state.

Anyway, I started BASE jumping - not because i wanted to use it to die, but because it was something i wanted to do anyway and at that point i felt if I survived my jumps then that would be great, but if i didn't then that too would be great cos it would offer me release from the blackness. What happened however was it gave me my life back. It gave me myself back (and i know that sounds corny, but i also know that anyone who has been there will understand it). It gave me absolute focus and clarity, and that wasn't just spiritual and emotional, it was chemical.

I still take Fluoxetine (prozac) daily. Prozac has helped me redress the chemical balance enormously, and i use it because I need to keep on top of my imbalance and BASE jumping is just too sporadic and intermittent to rely on, but I know that BASE jumping is an amazing supplement.

Being white, middle class, american, married, wealthy etc does not rule you out from genuine chemical depression. In fact it could be argued that those factors actually contribute to the inactivity of the adrenaline response and thus make any imbalance in serotonin more noticeable, but then i would be guessing.

I've written this because it's important to me that people at least try to understand the nature of depression. It isn't something you can just shake yourself out of. It isn't just feeling sorry for yourself. It isn't feeling a bit glum. You can not rationalise your way out of a genuine depression no more than a diabetic can rationalise themselves out of a attack or a hayfever sufferer can give themselves a good talking to about their streaming red eyes.

I hope that is food for thought for some of you who think it's just someone trying to be a bit different and a bit controversial.

dr. pepper - so misunderstood.

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I would have to agree with you here chuck.... Dying is not even a reason i would consider in my choice to skydive or base. Being in a poor or unstable mindset is not a way i would want to be doing something i enjoy....And to be that bent over money, relationship's or stupid thing's that would want you to end all..well... pick your ass up and move on.... there will be always money and relationships for the taking... quit living in the past and live in the now..

This base forum is getting to be like a white wall room forum....

again...it is what it is....internet babble....:P


In the end...the universe has a way of working itself out.... "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle"

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Huh,
That's some deep shit. I think i started the day I was on top of a large rock in sedona. i was smoking a joint and talking to this crow. about life and my place in it. He never answered , but instead looked over his shoulder at me and hopped off the cliff w/out spreading his wings(that i could see). a few to 5 seconds later he appeared, soaring, wings spread, past the talus.
I climbed down cathedral rock, drove straight to the new tandem operation that was starting at the cottonwood airport and asked them how I could learn to fly. They weren't opening for another month and by then I was going to be back in NY. So they directed me to the ranch, Where not one of those (seemingly) selfish motherhuckers would teach me to base. So I started packing student rigs and harassing everyone w/ a basic research shirt I could find. Finaly found a mentor, got a hundred base and now I am one of those (seemingly) selfish motherhuckers, that doesn't wan't to help that crazy kid f*ck himself up on a real jump.
Why did I get into it, Cause life told me to. And I owe most of it to BLINCmagazine.com (Sorry tom, DZ didn't have a base board then)
When I am really f*cked up and depressed as i am now (5yr girlfrnd dumped me last week) I go back to skydiving, 'cause I don't have the head to handle BASE.
This is a serious commitment that can dramaticly improve a select few's lives. It's not an easy way out. Chances are you will be mangled and owe huge hospital bills b4 you ever get to die. Don't do it to cure depression, just to prevent it.
BASE is not about the possability of quick death but instead about the guarantee of a full life.
I trully hope you find your way to the surface of your depression, don't be afraid to ask for help.

"Faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death."
Hunter S. Thompson

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Ok, so for a lot of reasons, i am not happy with my life right now.
Many a time, i think i would have been better off not wakeing up from the coma. but i know personaly many para/quadrapalegics who still love their lives. i spent 3 months in the hospital with a bunch of people who will never walk again. the look they gave me, because i was in a wheelchair for 4 months, was one that i will never forget.
but, if i EVER get the thought in my head that i will KILL myself, i will either be way to fucked to actualy do it, or i will find some WAY cooler that BASE jumping, because, really, this sport isnt THAT cool. and really, it needs no more martyrs. so, capitals dude, go step in front of a bus.
......
......
......

-SPACE-

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i just got in from work and was surprised and not surprised at some of the talk on here---- and thanks for spending the time you did. tom a. i was a little surprised (in a good way-- ireally wasn't sure how you would take this) that you would admit such a thing! i really apprieciate it. bigwallmaster i really digested alot of what you said and alot of it struck home alot. and the same with dr.pepper the two of you mirrored --echoed--and validated exactly what I'M FEELING. thank you. and some of you i'm always going to choose my words with in the future like at exit points or landing areas or the hike back or the climb down! i'm not the type of person you'd look at and say "oh that guys messed up in the head!" I'M QUITE THE OPPOSITE. i'm around.

REMEMBER I WAS JUST BEING HONEST ABOUT THE STUFF IN MY HEAD THE STUFF WE USUALY DON'T LET OUT we all keep secrets for the fear of what people will think. I'M STILL THE SAME GUY THAT MIGHT CARRY YOU OUT WHEN YOU HAD THE 180 OR THE BROKEN TOGGLE COME FLARE TIME.

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Well now we understand. At first I didn't realize the extent to which you're afraid people will learn the truth about you. But I guess your fellow jumpers might think twice (or 5 times) about having you PCA them or assist in any way while you're seeking death and they're trying to avoid it. Makes sense.
"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

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I can honestly say that dieing never entered my mind for some reason to BASE jump, really if I thought that "this is or could be the end", then I'm sure as hell not jumping! I "KNOW" my shit will work, that's what I'm thinking. Once or twice thou I thought that "man, if this don't work , this is gonna hurt" , but dieing, no no!

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and you know what??? thats it right there. i would also like to say i would never --ever hurt anybody doing this. i'm always looking out to help not hurt. and with myself i must admit i'm very careful (overly) with my pack job and everthing that goes along with this--because i want everything to go right. that's pretty ironic but true and contradictory and all that just almost doesn't make much sense but that's who and what i am. GOODNITE!!

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ASK YOURSELVES WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO START SKYDIVING? WHAT SET YOU OFF?



WHile nothing 'set me off', I got into to sport shortly after meeting a longtime jumper who posts here. I would have gotten into it much earlier but just never thought about seeking out a drop zone and always figured it was outta my budget (heh..still is). I was one of the kids that had the dreams about human flight, was fascinated by videos of skydivers, etc.

I'm currently in student status at SDH though I plan to get into BASE once I feel I am ready. My motives for getting into skydiving and any of the disciplines tho, have nothing to do with wanting to die. I both understand and accept the inherent risks, just as I did when I was a U.S. Marine serving overseas; though my motive was based on the achievement factor and living life to the fullest rather than seeking a death wish.

In comparison, those of us who live in major cities (I'm in Houston) risk our lives every day just by getting on the freeway, and I figure I'll probably burn in faster from an idiot driver rather than chute malfunction or pilot error.

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AND BY THE WAY AGAIN I'M HAVING MORE FUN NOW THAN ANYTHING OR ANYONE HAS BROUGHT TO ME EVER. IN MY WHOLE LIFE BUT I KNOW EVENTUALLY--BSBD



Yeah, there are risks. With the greatest risk comes the greatest reward. I'm pretty certain that the people who climb mt everest aren't looking to die, they just want to get to the top.

0.02
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trance/house mixes for download:
www.djmattm.com

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ASK YOURSELVES WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO START SKYDIVING? WHAT SET YOU OFF? YOU HAD NOTHING ELSE TO LOSE. ETC.



You're either fishing, or you're in a predicament that you need to resolve away from the worlds objects.

Either way, you are making a lot of false assumptions, generalisations, etc about the jumping community.

Most of us are here for the exact opposite reason that you mention.

WE ARE HERE TO LIVE!!!!!!!!!

AND MOST OF US WANT TO DO IT IN A REASONABLY CONTROLLED MANNER. MANY OF US ARE HERE TO MANAGE RISK AND ACHIEVE/SATISFY OTHER OBJECTIVES THAN THE ONES YOU MENTION. A death wish it is not.

Are there suicidal jumpers? Of course. There is one prominant person who had similar thoughts to the ones you are promoting.

But in general, it is not a contrived suicide pact.

Good Luck with it all.

p.s. there are many wonderful things to do, see, feel, touch, smell, experience, etc in this world. Search a little harder both within yourself and external to yourself and you will find amazing things in this life. Don't waste it.
Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck

The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

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I have ZERO thoughts of suicide. If I did come to a point (god help me) where suicide was the "only" way out I wouldn't do it jumping because I have too much respect of the sport and my friends in the sport. I could see why one would want to go out that way, but I wouldn't. Overall I see suicide as SELFISH. An easy way out. Your loved ones (and there out there) feel the pain and burden of your death more than you. If your to a point where this option is your only choice, reach out to whoever, me even. I'm open ears, privately of course. I BASE to live, not to Die.

Nic

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During a base jumping power weekend back in the days, I was waking up all sweaty and trembling ... I hear a friend in the dark

"it is just demons little brother just demons, get your stuff we are going again"

He was right, it's just demons ... but it has nothing to do with jumping

I miss him

PerFlare

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Something must have happened to cause it - Relationship problems, money problems, hardship and adversity. It may come as surprise to you to learn that for many, depression and suicidal thoughts are not linked to anything tangible in their lives, but are purely the products of a chemical imbalance



Don't confuse clinical depression with the "social" depression sold by the pharmaceutical companies.

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- an under availabilty (so to speak) of the neurotransmitter serotonin. That is where drugs like prozac come in. They inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, making it more available. Serotonin is associated with the brains ability to create a happy, contented state.



Serotonin does not create happy!

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It is now widely believed in scientific circles that many people who produce low levels of serotonin (depressives) - compensate for it by participating in high risk taking in order to stimulate the brains production of the euphoria inducing adrenaline.



Folk’s science for the most part. You cannot make a direct link from molecules to behavior. Things are a little more complicated than that. Also, the few empirical data are controversial.

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Put simply, although many people are unaware of it, they may BASE jump in order to activate their adrenaline response in order to compensate for their lower serotonin levels.



Don't confuse science with introspection.

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This isn't simply - BASE jumping makes them feel happy or euphoric. It is more BASE jumping makes them feel normal again. Human again. Alive again. It lifts the blackness.



Again, don't confuse science with introspection.

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I am no scientist but this rings so true.



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I still take Fluoxetine (prozac) daily. Prozac has helped me redress the chemical balance enormously, and i use it because I need to keep on top of my imbalance and BASE jumping is just too sporadic and intermittent to rely on, but I know that BASE jumping is an amazing supplement.



Like many psychoactive drugs, antidepressant users will develop tolerance and withdrawal symptoms when the use ceases. For the most part antidepressants do more bad than good especially for the “social” depressed people. On the contrary for few clinically depressed patients they could be life savers. Those drugs are prescribed way too casually. It’s a ludicrous business much worse IMO than illegal drug trafficking and dealing.

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Being white, middle class, american, married, wealthy etc does not rule you out from genuine chemical depression. In fact it could be argued that those factors actually contribute to the inactivity of the adrenaline response and thus make any imbalance in serotonin more noticeable, but then i would be guessing.



Yes you are guessing.

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I've written this because it's important to me that people at least try to understand the nature of depression. It isn't something you can just shake yourself out of. It isn't just feeling sorry for yourself. It isn't feeling a bit glum. You can not rationalise your way out of a genuine depression no more than a diabetic can rationalise themselves out of a attack or a hayfever sufferer can give themselves a good talking to about their streaming red eyes.



Very true for clinical depression.

Thanks for sharing that.
Memento Audere Semper

903

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I haven't actually base jumped yet, but it's the reason I started skydiving.

I want to base jump because i'm a rush junkie, and this kind of sport was a good substitute for drugs;)

***Free bird Forever

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