Carless

For the first time in something like fifty years (!) my husband and I are carless. Or maybe, more like it, my husband is carless for the first time since he started driving at the age of eighteen -- which is when you get your license in the more sensible countries of the western world.

Okay.

I stopped having my own wheels about seven years ago, and that was actually quite a difficult adjustment. Somehow, not being able to take off on a whim (although I didn't do it often) took away some sort of sense of freedom, and also, sharing a car felt like I was second in line, that the car was more his than mine. But I adjusted. So now it's not as difficult for me, being without, as it is for my better half.

This set me thinking... why do we feel so personally attached to our vehicles? Do they provide us with an extra sheath perhaps? A comfortable carapace? You know how people have an energy field around them, and an aura (think of those who make you want to take a step back!), so maybe our cars become an extra layer of ourselves. Just think how some people clean and polish, even give their vehicle a name. It's well known that we feel enclosed and even cut off from the outside world and its realities while driving, and may behave in ways we'd never do otherwise. Can't you hear me muttering about that silly ### who just cut me off?

Which brings me to the positive sides of the situation. Not taking into account the environmental benefits of ride-sharing and so on, we are both walking more and soon I'll be riding my bike too. We'll be out in the open, more connected with nature and our fellow human beings.