At some point in the last couple months, I realized that I was never going to get back in a plane if I kept waiting for the perfect moment. That is

• The moment I was completely prepared
• The moment I had 1.5 hours to devote to flying
• The moment I had already planned out my goals for lessons
• The moment I would no longer be rusty (go figure)

I also realized I needed to return to something I believed in: the idea that completion is more important than perfection. Somehow, I got my hands on the following rules, and have used them to goad myself to action on several occasions.

“The Cult of Done Manifesto”
1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you’re done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.

I approached February 28th in a state of extreme fatigue – not so much from lack of sleep, which was a factor, but from time spent with too many people in too close proximity. But I had called up a friend to go flying, and I was determined to keep my appointment. Doing something makes you right.

Things didn’t go as planned. First, I had convinced my lovely friends, Sharon and Nate, who were visiting for Atlanta, that they really did want to go up in a plane with me. But with neither of the pair feeling 100% percent, they weren’t convinced that going flying was the best idea (though they gamely agreed to drive out to HEF with me). Second, I forgot that in addition to all the folks in town, and the baby shower on Saturday, we were in the middle of painting the trim in the living room. And when you start painting, you don’t want to stop in the middle. Third, I was late. I hate being late. Fourth, I wasn’t feeling great. I’ll blame it on being 8 months pregnant. Laugh at perfection.

But the point was that if I waited for the stars to align, I’d never get back into the air, so feeling very pregnant and tired, with two queasy friends and the ever-supportive husband in tow, we headed out somewhat belatedly to HEF. Getting back to the airport was like a shot of espresso, combined with meeting your old love on the street. I was instantly alert and smiling. I looked out at the runway, and was just in time to see N21020 take off. Boy did I want to be up there.

As soon as Leon had the plane back to its earlier spot, I inspected it with some care, noting that there was still a slight persistent squeak for the right aileron, but that a number of things since the annual were much improved – some paint work, and the GPS was updated. With no small amount of pride, I took Sharon and Nate on a tour of the plane, and gave a “101” on wing curvature and lift.

We watched planes take off and land for a little while, before I got antsy and wanted to be in on the action. Banish procrastination.

Nate and Glen stayed on the ground, while Leon and I climbed in front and Sharon in back. Boy was I rusty. I didn’t even remember to keep my hand on the throttle. I could feel a bit of overload coming on, as I pulled myself back into reading the instrument panel, making decent turns throughout the pattern, and working with Leon to finish calls to the tower. But already on the second take-off I was beginning to feel some level of comfort. The attitude of the plane was nicely aligned with the horizon as we climbed to about 900 feet, and scanning the instrument panel started to come back.

Landing, well, that’s a story for another post. The plane wants to fly, and will do a lot to stay in the air. We got back to earth, but with the realization that I needed to get back into the cockpit on a regular basis. But then, that was the point of the trip: Done is the engine of more.