Love The Drive

Ok so my struggle with driving has been no secret. I have made my journey with my driving phobia extremely transparent on this blog. And anyone who knows me knows first hand ( after all many of you have dragged my non driving butt around… I’m sorry and thank you) and believe me it’s still an ongoing battle. That said I have been driving around much more. Currently I am working as a substitute teacher for two school districts. Which means I am driving around to different schools all the time.  One of these districts has schools pretty far out, rural communities, so I find myself some mornings commuting 20 or 30 minutes out. I have been driving more because of this, and actually spending quite a bit of time on the freeways. Granted the freeways around here are nothing like they are in L.A. but considering there was a time when I wouldn’t get behind a wheel at all I count it as progress.

And since I have been driving more I’ve noticed there are actually things I do enjoy about driving myself around… gasp I know!  And I figured I would share them with you. Hopefully I will learn to love more things about driving as time goes by… but I have to start somewhere so here it goes…

First off, I like Emmerson Jean, my little car.  He is a good car who gets me around well. Yeah he is a bit dinged (yes I did do the dinging, but he is kind and has forgiven me)

I love playing my music, and singing at the top of my lungs. I think it might even be better than shower singing.

I like the freedom. Now that the phobia is starting to get less debilitating the ability to get up and go is starting to out weight the fear and that’s beautiful. I have even gotten on the freeway to drive to the next city over to visit a friend… there was a time when I would have missed opportunities because I was trapped by the fear and that is changing.

The drive home is awesome… well provided there are not too many Semi trucks on the road. After a day of being drained of my sanity and emotion by needy students, it is nice to get in my care and just listen to my thoughts (and my music). It’s in those moments I almost understand why people love to drive.

So yeah, I’m still working on it. And yes I still freak out when the traffic is heavy or when I am not sure exactly where I am going. But it is getting easier, and I am learning to enjoy the small victories.... so as far as I am concerned that’s movement in the right direction.