Life is a highway

A long time ago I was 24 years old. Well, it seems like a long time ago, but it was only 23 years ago… Anyway, back then I got my driver’s licence and I was able to drive without needing to have a licensed driver with me. I remember driving through some mountains and this song was on the radio.

Life is a highway

Life’s like a road that you travel on
There’s one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

There’s a world outside every darkened door
Where blues won’t haunt you anymore
Where the brave are free and lovers soar
Come ride with me to the distant shore

We won’t hesitate
To break down the garden gate
There’s not much time left today, yeah

Life is a highway, I wanna ride it
All night long
If you’re going my way, I wanna drive it
All night long

Etc etc

I remember feeling so damn excited! I felt freedom for the first time in my life. I was free to drive by myself, to go anywhere I wanted. I was free to make my own choices without needing to have someone else with me.

It was an exciting time, being able to feel like life was a highway, and I wanted to drive it all night long.

I think I did, that night. I drove and drove and drove, for hours, through the nearby mountains, enjoying the drive like it was everything in the world to me.

And in that moment, it was. Being able to drive was my freedom from having to rely on others.

And yet, as the years have gone by, I’ve still relied on others. My friends, and my loved ones. They’ve been there for me when I’ve needed them. They’ve joined me in my journey.

I stop long enough to open the passenger door, and they get in with me. They join me in my journey along the highway of life. Without them sharing my journey with me, it would be pretty lonely.

Freedom is nothing if you have noone to share it with. What use is freedom if you’re alone?

I wasn’t running away from people, nor was I running away from my own fears. I wasn’t seeking freedom from people around me. Maybe that was what made it different for me.

Instead of wanting to be free of people, I just wanted people to join me in my freedom.

I think I still do.

As I explore my life with the words I write, this blog is my car, and it holds me and the sum of my experiences. I have passengers that I’m happy to join me in my adventure through life.

Some of them stay a while, they join me in my drive over the hills and through beautiful fields. We share adventures together, sing songs together on the stereo, and then we part ways as I drop them by the side of the road somewhere.

Some of them stay longer, and Fanfan recently has decided that she wants to stay with me in my car forever. I couldn’t imagine anyone more awesome to be with me forever as I travel the highways of life.