Ned Hepburn

High-res It’s a very American thing, is driving. In other countries, I’ve noticed, people seem to think about it as a means to an end: just a thing to get you from one place to another, which I suppose, to be blunt, is all driving every really is. Americans treat their cars like they did their horses in the 1800’s, like “trusted steed” and all that crap. You treat them like an extension of yourself. People become attached to their cars the way they would a beloved pet; even when, say, your Nissan is acting up, you still talk to it to try and make it work. Or yell at it. A drive can be cleansing; traveling, itself, is a master cleanse. There’s something to be said, though, about controlling the rush through space between the place you left and the place you’re going to. You become nothing if only the static between point a and point b. It begs the ultimate question: how much of life is ultimately spent thinking about the destination, the end product, and not entirely about the actuality of the journey itself? Who are you, truly, when there’s nobody around and all you have is the road ahead of you and the road behind you?

It’s a very American thing, is driving. In other countries, I’ve noticed, people seem to think about it as a means to an end: just a thing to get you from one place to another, which I suppose, to be blunt, is all driving every really is.

Americans treat their cars like they did their horses in the 1800’s, like “trusted steed” and all that crap. You treat them like an extension of yourself. People become attached to their cars the way they would a beloved pet; even when, say, your Nissan is acting up, you still talk to it to try and make it work. Or yell at it. A drive can be cleansing; traveling, itself, is a master cleanse.

There’s something to be said, though, about controlling the rush through space between the place you left and the place you’re going to. You become nothing if only the static between point a and point b. It begs the ultimate question: how much of life is ultimately spent thinking about the destination, the end product, and not entirely about the actuality of the journey itself? Who are you, truly, when there’s nobody around and all you have is the road ahead of you and the road behind you?

Notes

  1. quiblatcunwa reblogged this from spytap
  2. kateatonic reblogged this from helloyouhellome
  3. july-jones reblogged this from ellogarbage
  4. entermycourts reblogged this from spytap
  5. will-recek reblogged this from spytap
  6. shutterupp reblogged this from nedhepburn
  7. pialachheb reblogged this from nedhepburn
  8. urbaneturtle reblogged this from nedhepburn
  9. skyliner reblogged this from nedhepburn
  10. jerrysalinger reblogged this from mortal-husk
  11. joolyyangss reblogged this from spytap
  12. spytap reblogged this from nedhepburn and added:
    my favorite. It’s the fun gear. If you’re in third you’re neither at...stoplight nor...
  13. alyssabc reblogged this from nedhepburn
  14. audriesayshi reblogged this from mortal-husk
  15. mortal-husk reblogged this from nedhepburn
  16. dreamsofsun reblogged this from nedhepburn