What’s something most people don’t know about you?
As I see myself I’m an open book, so it’s hard to think of something most people don’t know about me. It reminds me of the “two truths and a lie” game that we did at work to get to know the team: you need to think of something that not only people Don’t know about you but also wouldn’t expect.
I always found coming up with a lie harder. One truth I thought of for “two truths and a lie” was that I used to live in my camper van for a few years when I was still living in Belgium, right before I moved to South Africa. I’m not sure my friends here in Cape Town know about that.
The other “truth” that I don’t think anyone in SA but my wife knows about is that I once did a suspension. You know, hanging from meat hooks basically, lifted off the ground, so suspended. It is not something I’ll likely do again, even though right after I did it I was considering giving it a second try.
I’m safe to say it’s a once in a lifetime experience. I had read about Fakir Musafar, the documentary Dances Sacred and Profane and the books Modern Primitives and Fakir Musafar: Spirit + Flesh, but was mainly intrigued by his life story (I probably read a summary of Spirit + Flesh) and the spiritual/sacred side of body modification and suspension.
When I got to know Alan from Wings of Desire and his (ex-)partner Koyote by way of Nowhere, the European regional burn. They are both amazing people and I knew that if I would ever trust anyone to suspend me from hooks trough my skin, it would be them. So I booked for a Suspension Sunday at legendary concert hall at Blitz in Oslo.
I should at least try to describe the experience but there really are no words except that it hurts, like intensely, like you most likely never experienced (unless possibly giving birth). And at the same time there is something so serene about swinging, so suspended from ropes hooked through your flesh.
Anyway. I am glad I did it, not likely to ever do it again, although I might, you never know. And it is one thing I doubt many people know about me: I once swung suspended from the ceiling of Blitz by two hooks through the skin on my back. 🪝
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