Unraveling, with Brooke Baldwin

Dearest Unravelers and Unravelers-to-be – 

Hello beautiful people from one of my HAPPIEST of places — on a plane suspended at 30,000 feet. Clouds and Carolina blue sky out my window and my seat mate and new friend to my right (we’re gonna get to him, his tattoos, his story, in a minute). As my friend Tim pointed out to me the other day over biscuits and apple butter — there are two kinds of people: those who groan “Ughhh, I have to fly today” and those who, like me (99% of the time), smile quietly and think: “I get to fly today.”

I mean, after a lifetime of flying, I still marvel that I am essentially strapped inside a metal cigarette tube and hurled through the sky from point A to point B. Whenever I find myself annoyed that the WiFi isn’t working on any given flight, I quickly remind myself and then laugh: “Brooke, WE. ARE. FLYINGGGG…!”

Me and my good friend/fellow Delta 👑 Allegra at the Delta 100th Birthday Gala

I am heading home today from Atlanta. I flew here just three days ago to steal some quality mom time and attend what my mother kept sweetly referring to as “Delta prom.” She wasn’t wrong. I mean, officially, it was Delta Airlines’ 100th birthday celebration. (They’ve come a long way from being a crop dusting airline in the ‘20s to now becoming the largest airline in the world.) The invite described the event at the Delta Flight Museum as a gala. CEO Ed Bastian would be speaking. A 93 year old former flight attendant, among others, would be honored. Grammy award-winning Jon Batiste would be performing, and we were to wear a “shimmer of silver.”

I understood the assignment. 🩶

Me, rocking my “shimmer of silver,” with two Delta pilots ✈️

I realize it might sound a little crazy to fly myself across the country to attend an event for… an airline. Even Peter was a little perplexed (I invited him to join me, and he was a little like “For Delta? I love you, but I’m good.”). Y’all, I don’t work for Delta, never have. They’ve never given me a single freebie or discount. I’ve flown nearly two million miles with them, and I’ve earned my miles and paid for my seats just like eeeeveryone else. I am loyal to this airline in a way that’s hard to explain.

When I first started dating Peter, I jokingly (not really) referred to Delta as my “original boyfriend.” I remember asking him something along the lines of: “Yes but — what airline do you fly?!” Anyone who is serious about their airline loyalty knows this is dealbreaker territory. Good thing Peter was relatively airline agnostic, and I have shown him the way ever since. 🤓

Me (hands over heart) and Delta CEO Ed Bastian — discussing how “we’re never breaking up.” ✈️ Thank you Tim Mapes — you rock.

As I write this I am laughing AT MYSELF.

Laughing.

And yet, here’s what I’ve realized in my Unraveling: I have come to rely on certain constants to get me through. Between all of life’s shit sandwiches and blessings — changes in work life, relationship, family, geography — I lean way the eff in on these seemingly small, silly or sometimes major constants to calm myself. To remind myself that I’m okay. That I’m not alone. I’m talking about loyalty. Loyalty is essential to survival. You name it — loyalty to country, community, friendships, family, spiritual beliefs and yes, loyalty even to a damn airline.

In my Unraveling these last few years, one of my few constants has been buckling into these navy blue plane seats, hitting our cruising altitude, getting occasionally weepy and often awestruck mid-flight, writing my heart out in my journal or this newsletter or my Vanity Fair piece (the bulk of which poured out of me on a Delta plane from JFK to LAX last year), dreaming of my future and deep breathing in my present.

There’s also something about the crucible of a plane, how it removes all context of our lives (other than the tether of WiFi — should we choose to use it). It offers us what we sometimes can’t even achieve in meditation, to be completely alone with ourselves yet packed in with all these other humans. The ground beneath our feet vanishes, and so do our go-to’s to busy ourselves from the hard work of self-reflection. It IS profound. And also, who are these people we’re surrounded by? What are that THEIR stories? Where are they going? What are they running from or to — and why? Somehow, up here, despite all the ways we’re different, it’s even clearer to me how we all belong to the same species. Sometimes just the idea of that deserves my loyalty.

And these flight attendants. My goodness — the stories they witness every day, and then of course — their OWN.

Our all-female flight crew today from ATL to LAX

Speaking of loyalty — I’m not the only one who feels this way. I’ve gotta tell you about my seat mate — and why this matters.