Life through the window of a car

Life through the window of a car
The thoughts and feelings of a teenage girl
By Katrine M. Jensen

I often look at the world through the window of a car.
I Love the way you can look at something, and find it gorgeous. But then when you get closer, perhaps it’s suddenly not as pretty. Life is the same way. When watching something or someone from the far, you can find it perfect. When you watch other people’s lives and think: “God, I’d love to have all that”. And then get closer, or achieve it, and find that it is nothing like it seems. That’s just the way it is, and you have to deal with it. Other times, things are just as pretty up close, and you won’t know till you take a look. But isn’t it worth the risk? Sometimes you drive by I little piece of nature, and suddenly get the urge to stop and walk around in it. You can suddenly imagine how sitting with a book under that tree would feel like, or how walking in that forest would be like. You can imagine the smells, the sounds, the sights, the feelings, perhaps even the tastes yet to be experienced, simply because you just saw a little perfect piece of the world. Mostly you just drive past. But sometimes you stop, and that is what life is about, I think. Stopping your rush to watch the little things, the things that makes you wonder, the things that makes your day a little more special. Stopping, even though you risk it not being as wonderful once closer, even though it’s maybe not rational, and isn’t going to make your day more productive. Just stopping because you feel like it. You feel like finding out, exploring.
Then, when you drive on, you’ll know a little bit more. About you, about life.
Then sometimes you’ll drive through a town, and watch all the people rushing through their lives. Watching people without their masks and facades on, because they are unaware that you are watching. You catch a glimpse of their lives, of their day, of how they choose to spend it. Whether or not they are the type to worry about their looks, their next appointment, and if the guy from last night will call. Worrying about silly things, just to discover later in life that it doesn’t matter. Sometimes you may catch the eye of someone, and you may wonder if you would get along. Sometimes you notice a person standing out, a person not worrying about insignificant details of life. Maybe someone who doesn’t look like they’re in a hurry like the rest of the world, or someone who doesn’t care what other people think, because they know that it doesn’t matter. You can’t help but phantom if other people look at you through the window of their car, the same way that you observe them. And what they see. You hope that you are one of the people standing out. One of the carefree people, enjoying life, because they know it’s not long enough to waste time worrying and being angry. You maybe make up your mind to try to be, but you know that truthfully, it’s not something you can become. And it doesn’t matter. Because you will probably forget thinking that way when you get to where you are going, and step out of the car. So cherish these moments while they are happening, appreciate the beauty of the world undisturbed by the knowledge of being watched, and the fear of being judged. Life as it should be. It’s one of the truest ways to look at life, I think. Through the window of a car.