The 400 Project

I love driving. 

Ever since I was a kid I’ve liked cars, bikes, and pretty much anything else with wheels that makes loud noises. Fast forward twenty plus years and nothing has changed. I can understand how people don’t really get why driving is fun. They either are always stuck in traffic, drive in a boring town, drive a boring car, or never push their car to its limits. Actually after saying all that I’d probably still find merit in why driving IS fun no matter who you are.

Driving signifies freedom. To be able to get in your car and go wherever you want is amazing. Since owning a car I have only ever gone a week without having one and that week was terrible. I had to bum rides and basically stay put or be at the mercy of the driver to decide when and where we were going. But let’s get back to driving.

One of the best things about being able to drive is the drive itself. Regardless of what car you drive, when you are cruising on the highway you hit a different kind of mentality. (At least I do). If you’re traveling on a highway that is moving well and not that congested you enter this form of autopilot. Where part of your brain begins to think about things other than driving, while a portion is left behind to drive. It’s super peaceful. I’ve come up with some great ideas for a project I’ve been working on, or sometimes simply just start to daydream.

I have found this same thing can actually happen when listening to music in headphones. You ‘zone out’ in a sense and can think clearly, so much so that the songs pass you by and all of a sudden you’re done the album you meant to pay attention to. I feel like it could happen without headphones but when you have them on you block out life’s sounds around you and it happens way easier. Maybe that’s why I can achieve this brain pattern easier while I’m driving as I usually have music playing as well.

Final weird thought: Sometimes we perform better when you focus less on the task at hand.

I can think of two examples to explain this. I’ve had a few people tell me that when I shift when I drive that I do so smoothly compared to others. This may be based primarily on how I release the clutch after shifting, it could also be that when you’re used to a car’s clutch you know where it grabs and how it grabs etc. But I also find, if I’m paying attention to my shifts, I’ll shift worse. It’s like because I’m focusing on it I’ll put too much thought into it and not let it go naturally. I’ve noticed this in something else as well, that directly relates to my earlier topic. When playing racing video games, I do my best when I achieve the ‘zone out status’ that I was talking about before. I can remember playing hours of a rally racing game and not even paying attention to my driving, but essentially day dreaming and still grabbing that podium position. Yet when I would pay attention, I’d mess up more. Maybe I’m just a Jedi and instead of focusing on my Training Remote I’m learning to let the Force flow through me and dictate my instincts? Yup. Figured it out. Mystery solved.