On the flight to Hong Kong, all I ever did was blankly sat in the window seat for 15 hours, sleepless. No cell phones. No Wi-Fi. Crappy food. No one to hang out with either, except for the 50-year-old grandpa who was screaming deep snores into my ear. Or it was as pleasant as listening to a child obnoxiously crying for 15 hours.
I took a moment to look down onto the window, only to realize that I was completely surrounded by puffs of white clouds and empty sky. I was 80,000 feet above the ground. My stiff body was restricted to stretch around, trapped in a small box. My ears were popping with high pressure. The plane was going through turbulence like an earthquake in the air. With the “fight-or-flight” adrenaline racing through my bloodstream, my heart was racing 100 beats per minute. The thing is, there is nowhere for me to take a “flight”; there was no room for me to flee.
At that moment, I thought I have finally achieved freedom in my life. The brutal truth is, however, it has become the freedom of nothing—the freedom that has drained my life into some sleepless, monotonous pieces. With the feeling of nausea stuffing into my stomach and boredom shredding my functionality, I was lost in the air.
As I inhaled deeply in with striking fear, I didn’t know what to do. As I processed my reticent mentality, I found myself in my dreams. I fell asleep. The sleep I have ever attained on plane rides are the most uncomfortably comfortable distraction to escape from my fear. When I was sleeping, I was unaware of all the turbulences from the plane, loud snores from grandpas, and even evil cries from innocent children. Sleep brings the inner peace into the mind and body.
If you didn’t catch me sleep, I was probably binging on movies. Plane rides are always the time to catch up on movies. During my flight to Hong Kong, I was able to watch five movies that I was impatiently waiting to watch when I was in Illinois. Five movies have passed by and there was only an hour left of the flight. My fear was satisfied with humor and relief.
Eating is the most satisfying hobby to do on the plane. At least it was for me. I would frequently order a cup of noodles or chips during the movie like eating popcorn in the movie theaters. The stress of worrying about the flight simmered into a daydream and I was able to survive the flight with ease.
The diagnosis of “fight-or-flight” response can be fought through facial therapy. I was able to soothe my skin with a face mask throughout the flight. Not only was it relaxing, but it also alleviated the unnecessary stress I was encountering in the duration of the flight.
Despite all the instances I have endured throughout my flight, I was able to fight them while providing care for my health. My fight-or-flight response was replaced with relaxation and satisfaction. In the end, I guess plane rides aren’t that bad.
