OK, first of all, it's starting to look like I'm talking to myself here, folks! Where is everybody?
So anyway, here's a little story about how I chose not to drive this evening, and felt better. I almost without fail feel better when I make the decision not to drive, and I reminded myself of that as I got into the car to drive across town to the east side coop, because they have a salad bar, and that's what I wanted for dinner. I actually spent awhile beforehand rationalizing why that was the most sensible thing to do. I got a few blocks; I was listening to the BBC news, thinking about whether I'd need to get gas, and then I got to the upper roundabout on Harrison just as a cyclist was toiling up the hill and crossing the crosswalk ahead of me. Bless that cyclist! Something just clicked inside me and I turned around and went back home, got on my bike and rode the west side coop a few blocks from my house and bought some broccoli and a yam, and made dinner at home.
There's something so insidiously habituating about driving a car. It's akin to the addiction to watching TV I think. I don't drive often, but I drove to Seattle today, and after all that time in the car it seemed like a little trip across town was nothing, a few teaspoons of fuel, a few ounces of emissions, I feel a little tired, I'll just drive this once...
I'm not meaning to preach here, because I don't think it's productive. I just had this vivid experience (once again) of how liberating and healthy and reasonable and do-able (even easy) it is to choose not to drive, if you make the choice consciously. Every time I hop on my bike to go somewhere I feel the joy of it. I'm about to turn 50 and I feel like a little kid every time I get on my bike!
