A Unconventional Safe Space

I do not know when it happened, but my car has become my unofficial safe space. It is the one place where I can just sit for a second before going into work or heading inside after a long day. It is quiet, it is familiar, and for a few minutes no one needs anything from me. Honestly some of my best thinking happens in the driver’s seat with the engine off and the music low.

There is something really grounding about that little pause. I will finish a phone call with my mom, take a deep breath, stare out the windshield or sun roof, and just let myself exist. No rushing. No expectations. I will not get out right away. I will scroll for a minute, or let a song finish, or just sit there in complete silence like I am rebooting my whole system. And it works. It gives me that tiny reset I did not know I needed.

Maybe it is because life feels nonstop. Work is busy, days blur together, and even at home there is always something waiting to be done. But in my car it is the in between. It is the little buffer between one version of me and the next. The version that just got off work versus the one who needs to unload groceries, walk the dogs, or act like an actual human again. My car gives me space to transition instead of sprinting from one thing to another.

If you feel like you have been going through your days at full speed, maybe you need your own thinking spot too. It does not have to be the car. It could be your kitchen counter, your favorite coffee shop or drive through, your bedroom floor, your shower, whatever feels like yours. Just a place where you can breathe.

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