Falling at the speed of sound.

Amongst all the bad news in the world, there is one shining example of the glorious human spirit of daring: Felix Baumgartner, the man who jumped from Space.
I don't know if there was a point to the exercise. Maybe just to see if it's possible. Which is exactly the sentiment that I love in all these great adventurers. "Let's swim the channel...because we can." "Let's find the source of the Nile...it could be fun." "Let's launch ourselves headfirst into the great beyond, just to see what's out there."
And why not throw yourself out of a balloon 128,100ft above the Earth, where you can see the curve of the Globe and the glow of the atmosphere? Why not fall at the speed of sound, spinning out of control as you go, a Spacesuit the only thing stopping your blood turning to gas?
And I would say the answer is as simple as the desire to push the edges of possibility, to conquer not just oceans, the world, space, each other, but to overcome our own limitations, our own frailties.
Maybe it is a bit of Viking spirit. The point of living is for glory, to leave a mark on the world.
Don't get me wrong...there is no way I'm jumping from anywhere near Space (it's been done darling!) but in a small way I want to thrown myself into life instead. Borrow a little bit of Felix's mettle and hopefully land on my feet with the same panache that he managed.
Just before his jump to immortality, Felix told the watching world "Sometimes you have to go up really high to see how small you are.” A quote worthy of Neil Armstrongs "One small step..." I wonder if he planned that line before the mission. It's one to remember anyway. It seems to apply to all kinds of high.
But for me, I never fail to feel tiny, like a speck on the earth, when I look up at the stars. Because I know they are massive and so far away. And how beautiful! And in a funny way it's quite a freeing feeling to know that whatever I do, it makes very little difference in the end. So I may as well risk life and limb to make something as beautiful and fleeting as a fall to Earth.
Now I just need to think what to do. Hmm....preferably something that doesn't risk life and limb though actually. Can I make up a spectacular dance instead. Or write a fairytale worthy of Hans Christian Anderson. Or make the most delicious cake ever that it so good it creates World peace. Is that likely?
Anyway...who's with me?