by RonF, 18 Sept 2009

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Let me tell you a story. This past Sunday I was invited by my cousin for dinner — originally it was for dinner and a movie, but I’ve already seen the one’s I want to see, so we opted for a longer dinner — and by the end of it all, she decided to drive me home.

She has a tiny convertible car, that -by the way- felt a bit gritty and sticky. But she let the roof down, and luckily the traffic wasn’t too bad, nor the pollution - after all we're talking about Hong Kong, where the pollution has caused foreigners to refuse to be posted here.

But I digress. While she was driving, I was looking into the night sky and not a speck of dust or cloud was visible, and a thought came to me. Somehow that clear night sky felt warm to me, and I said that the sky felt "parental". It was not so much about God and all, but it was the feeling that under that vast and pristine emptiness of the night sky, none of the little problems in life seems as heavy a burden — and I felt very much at peace with the world. Such a thought had never occurred to me before, it was the first time that I’ve felt anything like it; the gentle humming of the modest convertible, the tight little space of the tiny vehicle and its down-to-earth simplicity that somehow makes one feel closer to nature, the clear night sky, the scent and touch of moist air flowing pass you (it was after a torrential rain storm).

Later, I thought about how that sense of peacefulness would never have reached me if I'd been seated in the wide, comfortable seats of a covered luxury sedan. My satisfaction had nothing to do with the car itself, but rather with the combined feeling of gazing out at the clear sky, the low, steady hum of the engine, and the slightly damp wind blowing past as we meandered homeward.

I realized then that life should not be about impressing others with what we drive or own, and as in this case, isn’t 'satisfaction' the whole purpose of having a nice car in the first place — the essence of it?

If the main purpose of having a car of your own, is not merely as a means of transportation, but rather because of self-satisfaction (for having 'earned' a nice ride), or, of spiritual fulfillment (for the enjoyment of driving), then I hope you too will have one of those moments, like that drive home in my cousin’s modest and gritty convertible, to help you really understand what feels fulfilling.

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