Only months ago, the entire globe was my no-fly zone. As in: no airplanes -- no how, nowhere , never.
The sky had been out of bounds for decades, 34 years to be precise, and like many people with phobias, I was stubbornly attached to mine. I adjusted to my condition and rationalized it. When obliged to talk about it, which I preferred not to, I hailed my provincialism as a charming eccentricity and recounted my scenic excursions to Florida, Texas, and California . . . by train.
I am writing this paragraph some 30,000 feet over Florida, jetting northward through milky clouds on a weather-compromised late winter day. I am proud and pleased.
This is my second plane ride since graduating from Dr. Albert Forgione's Fearless Flying Course, and I'm feeling surprisingly good. Sure, I'd rather be back on the beach, but I'm managing to work crossword puzzles and listen to some sweet Gerry Mulligan ballads on my iPod without fretting too much about where I am.
To anyone who has lived with a flying phobia, this may seem amazing. The last time I flew commercial ly I could only stare blankly at the open book on my knees, miserably attuned to the modulating sounds of the airplane and the relentless anxiety that had become my constant, unwelcome, and virtually paralyzing flight companion.
It took a long time and a special convergence of circumstances -- retirement (from the Globe) and my wife's hunger for travel -- to impel me to do something about my . . . my fear.
It's hard to take that first step, but once you name it openly and actively seek help , you're on your way to friendlier skies . Most phobics won't believe that statement, but it's demonstrably true.
``Once a person crosses the threshold in my office, there is a solid 90 percent chance that they're going to make it, they're going to fly," Forgione, 71, said in a recent interview, a month or so after I had completed his course and flown a few times.
He has not kept exact records, but Forgione estimates that he has worked directly with a minimum of 3,000 people and has seen firsthand the great majority of them fly on the trips that are the final act of his 10-session ground course.
It all began for him 30 years ago in an alliance forged with The