The Rim of the World

I had a Prof once who was bright, funny, generous and wise. He had a very  good grasp of life in both theory and practice.

His advice for when times got rough was to: Get yourself out  onto the rim of the world and weather the storm from there. 

Being on the rim of the world lends perspective and opens up all sorts of new angles on things.

As I would climb out the window of  life, I invariably found myself on a chair-o-plane flying round and round with childish excitement.  Chair-o-planes were forbidden fruit in my youth as my father had a vision of the whizzing apparatus spinning so fast that we’d be catapulted to kingdom come.

Photo: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=6333&picture=chair-swing-ride
Photo: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=6333&picture=chair-swing-ride

The thing is: can you be on the rim of the world without at least a hint of danger?  It’s all about balance, in every respect, and knowing the tipping point.

The garden swing had quite an element of the rim of the world about itWind flying through flowing hair, legs propelling the seat to go higher and higher, ropes creaking, carving out magical angles and giving  Over the Top a meaning that could and would never be forgotten.