I have just recently completed the book "How to live well without owning a car" by Chris Balish, and I am here to say: I approve. And while his financial and health related points are both wonderful and convincing, the point I found most profound was the argument that living without a car makes you LESS isolated and more connected to the people and the world around you.
We often think that having a car connects us, gives us the freedom to go where we want, see who we want and live how we want. But the truth of the matter is we typically end up sitting alone, in traffic singing with the radio-- for hours of our lives at a time. We are too busy to hang out with friends because we spent our time hanging out by ourselves in our car.
Here is a test.
When was the last time you sung along with the Radio or a CD in your car?
When was the last time you sang along with an actual person no matter how formal or informal?
As a culture we are becoming more comfortable with being alone, protected within the walls of our four-door or our SUV. And, in result I will suggest that we are less comfortable being with other people and communing with other people. Many of us have the seedling desire to be a part of a performance ensemble, but we have become far too comfortable moonlighting in our sedan.
So, if you insist on singing ONLY in the car, I suggest finding a friend who will go and sing along with you?
Plus, you can split the gas bill.
No comments:
Post a Comment