Russell J. Fellows

Have you ever wondered why people, generally speaking, are obsessed with flying?

What is it about the power of flight that drives us to reach beyond our limitations and create machines that can take us into the heavens and transport us around the world?

Or drives us to jump out of those machines so we can spend mere seconds experiencing part of the sensation of flying (OK… gliding/falling, but you understand)? Or, like me, jumping into a wind tunnel for a minute of floating?

We create hundreds of superheroes with the power to fly, or magical heroes with the ability to fly on their own or make any object fly. We make brooms and carpets fly!

I made the power of flight an essential identity to a whole group of characters in my books.

Why? (Not why did I do it but why do we all do it… or so many of us)?

Is it because we see freedom in the skies, even for a short time?

I know I’m not 100% satisfied with flying in an airplane and long for the chance to soar under my own power. I’m pretty sure there are many more who feel the same.

I don’t know. All I know is that I dream of flying, my children dream of flying, and a whole lot of us share the same dream. We see the birds take flight and go wherever, whenever they want and we can’t help but long for it.

What do you think? Do you wish you could fly? Why or why not?