Learning to Fly: Reflections on Fear, Trust, and the Joy of Letting Go

by Sam Keen

The acclaimed author of Fire in the Belly presents an exhilarating memoir of his late-blooming love affair with the flying trapeze--and a provocative look at the potential it offers for growth, transformation, and overcoming deeply rooted fears.

An unprecedented adventure of the soul and psyche, Learning to Fly teaches us to soar on the wings of possibility as we watch Sam Keen and his students progress through breathtaking exercises on the trapeze which they use as a vehicle for exploring the challenges and dilemmas of life. As he describes takeoffs, knee hangs, and thrilling midair catches, Keen imparts moving revelations about risk-taking, trust, bravado, living more passionately, true strength, falling, and letting go. Guiding us on a remarkable inner journey through the "circus of the mind," Learning to Fly reveals the grace of ascending in body and spirit--and living with levity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Adventure, Biography

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Sam Keen was an American author, professor, and philosopher who is best known for his exploration of questions regarding love, life, wonder, religion, and being a male in contemporary society. He co-produced Faces of the Enemy, an award-winning PBS documentary; was the subject of a Bill Moyers' television special in the early 1990s; and for 20 years served as a contributing editor at Psychology Today magazine. He was also featured in the 2003 documentary Flight from Death.
Keen completed his undergraduate studies at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and later completed graduate degrees at Harvard University and Princeton University.
Keen was married to Patricia de Jong, who was a former senior minister of First Congregational Church of Berkeley, United Church of Christ, in Berkeley, California.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

On New Year's Day I took my first trapeze class. My obsession with the circus began over the summer, and after seeing Cirque du Soleil I started taking aerial silks classes, thinking it seemed less scary. But every time I went for a class I'd watch the trapeze classes going on and it looked so fun... well, I wasn't afraid of heights - I'd climbed to the top of the silks rig - so finally I did it. And it was awesome! I knew I would be taking many more trapeze classes in the future.

So of course I found the one book in the library catalog that was about the flying trapeze. The author began trapeze classes when he was 61 - yeah, you heard me. As a writer and philosophical thinker, the act of flying led him on to many transcendental experiences. While I don't tend to meditate or ponder the teachings of Plato, I think anyone who tries the trapeze will have the same transformative experiences. I enjoyed reading about what he learns from both professional trapeze artists and from the people in the Upward Bound program he began that took delinquent teens and battered women and let them fly.

The chapters are short enough that the philosophical musings don't get too bogged down, and I liked reading about his struggles to learn various tricks - most of the struggles are actually psychological rather than physical. I'm not sure that someone who has never tried the trapeze will be interested in this book, but I think it's likely a good read for anyone who has tried it, whether you're a newbie or well-seasoned.

[Darrell]

Wow! This is one of those books that I read in small bites but every time I put it down I have a tear in my eye. It just really hits home with who I am right now and what it is I'm looking for in my life. I've accomplished enough in my life that I can now see that "accomplishment" is not "nourishment". Amazement, wonder and inspiration is what nourishes the soul and in many subtle (and not so subtle) ways that is exactly what the author conveys in this book. It's reaffirming to hear these things. Especially coming from such a self-proclaimed introvert as the author. He points out in one chapter that performers are more often than not extraverts which don't really think a lot about what they do and how they do it. Consequently they often cannot explain their experiences and well as say someone who is constantly looking inward and analyzing. Yet this inward looking "analysis paralysis" is often what inhibits people from doing those crazy thing that they dream about. Well.. it's all hear. The introspection, the joyful affirmation of wild abandon, the gentle lecture that it's ok to be who want to be. It all rings true to me. I'm going to go write a new song now. :)

[schmoozie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed reactions to this book. What I really like about it is that I started to learn to fly at age 50 and some of Keen's insights and descriptions of the process of his learning process and emotional evolution really rang true to me. I draw on some of this information often in my own aerial journey. For e.g. dealing with the ups and downs depending on my progress, trying not to compare myself to others, aches and pains and remedies for them, etc. I found the chapter on learning to catch particularly helpful. It has given me a much better appreciation for how difficult catching is!! What I couldn't relate to in this book was the over-the-top philosophizing on some the inevitable questions one asks oneself, such as "Why am I doing this at my age?" "Why am I so darned obsessed with this fantastic sport/art?" I find some of the parallels he draws between flying and Nietzsche and the like just go too far; and okay, I don't necessarily agree with them either. But the fact that there is someone else out there who discusses the same issues I'm muddling through is valuable to me. I would love to meet Sam Keen!

[Pamela S Kearns · Rating 3 out of 5]

One could read the last chapter and get the essence of the book. Mr. Keene does have a way with words, but just too much about the art of trapeze.

[James R · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this was one of those books that left me with a bundle of dichotomous feelings. On the one hand the story of how a sixty year old took up the practice of flying on a trapeze was interesting especially because he included a brief history of the art and the individual pioneers and greats throughout the narrative. Added to that his descriptions of his encounters with the current accomplished flyers provided insights into a world I would have never encountered. Although its been a long time since I was at a circus with flyers the memory of the magic of those performances are easy to conjure. Even though Sam Keen certainly has the academic training and professional experience to be able to competently comment on theological and philosophical questions and even though I have no doubt that his experiences as he learned how to fly provided him moments of metaphysical insight, some of which I admittedly found intriguing, a lot of the time the connections felt forced. And that was the other side of my reaction to the book. It felt like a perfectly good story was often weighed down with an obligatory theological/philosophical insight some of which seemed rather forced. Why not just enjoy the thrill and excitement of learning something as challenging and thrilling as learning to fly on the flying trapeze for goodness sake without everything having to have a deep meaning about the nature of being. In the end a lot of the time the two things just didn't fit well together for me and I ended up falling into the net so to speak.

If you enjoy books that seek to find meaning in the events in our lives, then you will probably think I am being to harsh and will really enjoy Learning To Fly. And I hope you read it. If not, then I'd say read it for the fun of remembering what you felt as you watched trapeze artists perform and learning more about their art and the personalities that lived their lives flying through the air and skip the metaphysical musings.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my journal:

Review:
This was not at all what I expected but a much more valuable and enriching read for it. Trapeze almost feels like a pretext to muse on life, passion, growing, and falling. Maybe a bit abstract at times, but one I've learned from and will come back to.

This book in 3 words:
Introspective
Thoughtful
Merciful

Things to remember:
"It is clear that the great flyers have always been great fallers."

Failure > Second chanced. "What I have managed to create after falling has often turned out to be better than the trick I planned."

"Know your limits. ... Accepting the limits of caring sometimes requires us to let a person fall."

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent blending of narrative and philosophy. The author began to learn flying trapeze at the age of 62 and wrote this book 5 years later. It is at once a very interesting recounting of his physical journey in the art and a collection of spiritual musings, more or less sparked by his experiences. I steamed through it as though it were a novel. I got it from the library, but I'm buying a copy for me.

[Velvetink]

Sounds amazing he started at 60yrs old- must be pretty flexible.

btw.One of my friends, Wendy in Sydney is the director of this Aerial arts school....check them out....
http://www.artbabes.com.au/Welcome.html

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend recommended this book to me. I thought it was nice. I knew several of the characters in it- so that was neat, but I didn't love it like my friend did.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's a trapeze thing.

[Cami Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Sam Keen's wonderful memoir of taking up the flying trapeze at age 60. It is beautifully written, inspiring and insightful. I highly recommend it.

[Sarah]

Funny how he inserts Biblical language putting his own twist on things to serve his purpose - make his argument.

[Jennifer]

1