My Commute

I was driving home yesterday with all my friends in the commuter world, aka, the random people in cars next to me that I consider myself to be close to. We look at each other through the windows of our different vehicles and seem to come to the same understanding... you stay in your lane, and I'll stay in mine. A bond that cannot be torn.

I knew working in Midvale and living in Bountiful would come with a decent drive. I suppose i'm just wishing I had opted for the ipod jack in my current car, instead of being stuck with the ever so allusive cd player. I make do. First world problems, obviously.

Well, when I get too used to the same 20 songs, too lazy to burn a new cd, and too annoyed with radio hosts (talk radio isn't even an option,) I turn off the music and turn on my brain. 75 minutes worth of commute in the day is really an excellent time to use the ol' thinker. So, what did my brain start thinking about you ask? (You probably didn't ask. Let me tell you anyway.)

Driving! True story. I flashed back to a young, 16 year old Lauren FRESH behind the wheel. I learned to drive in my Mother's mini van, but my first car was Millie, an old beat up Camry. Ok, so maybe she wasn't beat up until after I had her several years, nontheless, she was a great starter car. When I first started driving Millie as a SOLO driver, I remember being terrified. I remember the first place I went alone, because my palms were sweating so much that my hands kept slipping off the wheel, which, wouldn't you know, made me sweat even more. Every car that approached me was an enemy that I closesly had to watch, stop signs were to be stopped at for a full 20 seconds, driving in any kind of precipitation was not an option, and left hand turns... oh, left hand turns. Basically, when I first started driving, I was as alert as I'd ever been on the roads of death. I was patient. I was inquisitive. I was as observant as humanly possible.

I wish I could say the same for 'current Lauren.' Unfortunately, driving has become, more or less, an unconscience effort. Somedays I get to work and have to think very hard to actually remember getting there. I flip on the blinker, I change lanes, I come to a stop at a red, and left hand turns... well as long as i'm not on the bloody side, I think I can make this riiiiiiiiight NOW! Driving has become part of my well-rehearsed dance. It's kind of a scary thought that it's become so routine, but I know i'm not the only one. These things happen when we do something over and over... and over... and over again.

Well! In the words of Rascal Flatts, the poets they are, Life is a Highway! True to Lauren form, this is about to get almost too deep to comprehend.

Have we all succumb to the dance of life? What if life really IS the highway, and we are all just old Toyota Camrys cruising along. I'm sure it was all exciting and nerve wracking, at first, as we very cautiously stepped along... but now it's just another day, another 20 miles. That's probably just as scary as the subconscience driving effort when you think about it, because, like driving, if we don't keep our eyes open, our minds alert, or our knowledge of the rules present... chances are that one day we will be side-swiped. We will be hit. We will cause an accident that could have been avoided. And will all happen way too suddenly, catching our blank gaze off guard.

Like the roads, there is way too much going on in the world around us as we 'travel' on. Keeping our eyes open will allow us to catch the sunrise over Salt Lake City. Keeping our minds sharp will help us to avoid a careless collision that could hurt us… or, maybe even worse, it could hurt one of our own.

Long story short, I'm going to pay a little better attention on the roads, much like I did as a teenager. I'm also going to consider each day in the most perceptive way possible. Hopefully, between the two of these goals, I'll see a little more, and be a little more. It doesn't take much to be assertive.

Until next time!