Dare. To. Jump.

Check out one girl's story of how she learned to fly....

"It’s at the heart of every little kid’s core – the dream of flying. It’s a dream that most of us never believe will come true, or could come true.  But, for one girl, an unshakeable belief that life is made up of simple choices that allow you to soar, led her to do just that: choose to live the dream.

This film chronicles the path of one person’s aspirations to fly, through the lens of twenty-seven year old Sara Close.  Having never previously touched any free flight equipment, she moves to Wallaby Ranch, Florida and is met with a world-renowned cast of characters who introduce her to the unique sport of hang gliding, a passionate community, and the experience for the first time in her life of what it feels like to fly.  What was supposed to be a story filmed over 4 weeks turned in to a 6-month project as Sara and award-winning filmmaker, Seth Warren, set off around the country to see what else the sport had to offer.

With the combination of unique aerial footage, narration celebrating the sport, and beautiful scenery from Florida, to Montana, to the West Coast of the USA, “Live The Dream” is free flight made tangible to the every day person – with a dose of humor to boot."

Support the project here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/livethedream/live-the-dream

Jump for a "girls vacation with my 5 best college girlfriends!" - Bridget, who also wrote:

Each time my husband and I travel away from our home in NJ we jump, and I must say jumping never disappoints and always ends in us laughing so hard! I jump because life is too short not to! Jumping brings out the child in everyone and I SO enjoy making others feel good!

 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

"Each time my husband and I travel away from our home in NJ we jump, and I must say jumping never disappoints and always ends in us laughing so hard! I jump because life is too short not to! Jumping brings out the child in everyone and I SO enjoy making others feel good!" - Bridget

San Francisco, California

"Jumping on vacation with my husband and I - one of the best days of my life!" 
- Bridget, who also wrote:

Each time my husband and I travel away from our home in New Jersey we jump, and I must say jumping never disappoints and always ends in us laughing so hard! I jump because life is too short not to! Jumping brings out the child in everyone and I SO enjoy making others feel good!

Napa Valley, California

We've posted about this project in the past, but saw this photo montage recently and loved it...

Iraq is Flying
Jamal Penjweny (Iraq)
www.jamalpenjweny.com

The quotes below are from: http://www.singaporefringe.com/fringe2012/iraq-is-flying.html

“The memories from our childhood still exist, or in another expression, we still carry a bit of the child inside us. When I was a child, I used to jump with my friends for joy and happiness, and I only dreamed of watching my home from a height for no reason. But for me, jumping was also like a dream. I wanted to fly through a highest jump to watch my house and the road from the sky and to see the entire city where I was born. Now, I can see my city and even all of Iraq from the tiny window of an airplane, but everything looks different. We are flying in a big competition, but we all have forgotten the beauty of the games we had in childhood.”

“With Iraq is Flying, I wish to give Iraq’s energetic people a chance to regain their dignity, to let them jump beyond the setting of their lives and show how we all carry a bit of the child still within us.

I want all Iraq’s people to fly.”

- Jamal Penjweny

”‘Iraq is Flying’ literally shows people soaring above their situations.“
- Uplift Magazine, 2009

Relationship to Art & Faith

“The media tend to present Iraq as a tragic country. Yet a powerful picture is not necessarily the most tragic. War is always in the focus, but the lives and hopes of Iraqis are often left behind. A powerful picture should able to inspire the viewer in a series of thoughts, raise questions and shed light on the contradiction of reality, rather than provide a flat answer to what reality is.

“In 2006, I found in my archives a picture where three kids were jumping for a farewell party, and I decided to snap similar jumps of people I met in the streets of Sulaymaniyah, Baghdad, Babil, Fallujah, Kirkuk and ‘Amara.

“Those jumping in Iraq is Flying are normal people: children and adults women and men, American and Iraqi soldiers. They return briefly to their childhoods as they jump as high as they can in front of the camera. Iraq is Flying wish to make Iraqis the heroes of the history of their country, and make fly their hopes from Iraq around the world.”

- Jamal Penjweny
Photo credits: Jamal Penjweny



Check out "Iraq is Flying" above! (all credit to Jamal Penjweny).

"One of my first Gorgeous hikes in New Zealand was to the summit of Papamoa Hil. A view this Delicious required an enthusiastic Jump! This country is Stunning :-)" -Empress*Ali (Check out her other photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/empressali/with/2910511823/)

Papamoa, Te Puke, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand