All > Ritual (story) > A Pull in New Jersey.
A Pull in New Jersey.
This was a day I had been looking forward to for awhile. The day of the East Coast BBQ in New Jersey had finally arrived. Meg and I arrived at the BBQ around 12:30 and things were already started. Every thing was great: the people, the food, the fun. There were swings and harassing children, does it get any better than that?
Hours later, around 6:30, after much hassle from the man people started cleaning up. Because he said he wouldn't give anyone directions to the after party unless everything was nice and clean. So everyone cleaned and made the area all pretty again.
I talked to Cere a bit earlier and asked him if he could throw mine and Meg's hooks first. And he said of course. Which made me very happy, because I didn't want to wait around while others got theirs done. I mostly didn't just want to sit around being nervous about the pain.
There were a few of us who got to the location of the after party first. And we all watched Cere set everything up. And make everything as sterile as possible, which is actually called disinfecting, but I like calling it more sterile.
Finally, after pretty much everyone had arrived and Cere had everything set up. He asked who wanted to have their hooks thrown first, me or Meg. I jumped in and said I would go first. All eyes were on me. I was only semi nervous. I knew no matter how much it hurt I would love it regardless, so I tried to just not think about it too much. Everyone pulled out their cameras and I felt like I was on display at a gallery.
I had put my zip up hoodie on backwards over my tank top as to attempt at keeping warm because apparently it gets really cold in New Jersey. Cere massaged my back and drew up the markings. He asked me if I wanted the hooks higher or lower, and he showed me what it would feel like by pinching the skin. I said lower, because it hurt less.
He had me sit down and he asked if I wanted the hooks through on the first or second breathe. I said second, because I thought I could prepare myself better for it if I had a little more breathing time. I took one big breathe in and one big breathe out. Another big breathe in and on the out he pushed the needle and hook through. It was nothing at all like I expected. He asked if I was okay, and I was and he did the second one the same exact way as the first. Again, nothing at all like I expected. I was a pinch, a minor one at that. Who would of thought that getting your back pierced would really not hurt that much? I was pleased with it. More pictures were taken of my freshly hooked back.
He then threw Meg's hooks and afterwards proceeded to tie us together. And as one might imagine, there were more pictures taken. We the went to go start the first pull of the evening. I grabbed my new, buddy to help me pull on my side. I asked Meg if she wanted someone to help her pull and I asked the crowd who would help her pull and a volunteer came forward and off we went.
The time really flew by. The hours seemed to just melt away. There was a lot of getting to know people. I met a lot of people while pulling. Most of them stood and talked with me, but a few of them held my hands and helped me pull on my side. Which I have discovered is really a great way to get to know somebody. There is something intimate about it. The person helping to pull is like the rock and the person doing the pulling is vulnerable and open. There is a lot of emotion going on, well at least for me there was.
We finally stopped around 11 p.m. and I was trying to decide if I wanted to pull off of a tree for awhile, but the I realized I was really tired and cold. So I went ahead and I had Cere take out my hooks. He squeezed the air out of my back it made some very interesting sounds. It was nice to have the hooks out. It was freezing at this point; I hadn't even realized the only thing that was keeping me warm while pulling was pure adrenaline. So I bundled up and held Cere's coffee to attempt to keep warm.
I really learned a lot about myself from this experience. I learned that I am a lot stronger mentally and physically then I thought I was. I also discovered my body's limits and boundaries. I have realized that the body is an amazing and wondrous thing and really can hold it together even when its being pulled around, so to speak.