Human spirit and the highways, page 1

I was riding in a car along one of the US interstates, and I just thought that riding is like eating. If you eat slowly, taste the differences in each bite, and be calm, you can enjoy you meal. Alternatively, you can bite, chew and swallow, and get yourself fed quickly. Riding is like that -- you can look at the scenery pass by, examine the road construction, and appreciate it and enjoy being there. Alternatively, you can think just about the place you want to be and try to get there faster.

I think the human spirit is involved with noticing things, not just rushing through experiences. If you notice things, you can appreciate how many other people worked hard to make the highway useful, safe, and in many, many areas, beautiful. The interstates I was on had well trimmed grass, some medians were broad with trees, others had flower beds, the sides had walls of great trees (I like trees a lot), markings were close to perfectly placed and on and on. People put a lot of time into designing, building and maintaining them. Recognizing that and appreciating it gave me a deep feeling of how good it is to be a human being, and how clever many of us are, and how humans can cooperate together. This to me is a feeling of the human spirit. I don't mean spirits like the druids thought spirits were in trees and rock, nor an individual's spirit or soul, but a common spirit of humanity. Perhaps if more people relaxed and appreciated the fine things humans do, mostly for others, there would be more feelings of cooperating and thankfulness.

Just a thought.