How we exchange our mindfulness for the fanciest toy in the lot.

Imagine you were being bothered by a mosquito.

And to address this problem, you launched a missile strike to kill it. Boom. Mosquito is gone.

Now, yes, you technically solved your problem. But a follow-up question may be:

“Could you have accomplished this task with less?”

With those missiles, you can live anywhere, you don’t need to prepare for anything, and they work 100% of the time.

But what if you lived where mosquitos didn’t? Put on some protective clothing/spray beforehand? Carried a fly swatter with you? What could that planning, forethought, and skill acquisition save you in the long run?

Sending a missile strike to kill a mosquito is akin to owning a car to accomplish daily tasks.

Cars are overkill

If you are reading this, you’re probably equipped with a 100-200 pound meat suit and are tasked with NOT DYING, DOING SOMETHING FOR THE GREATER GOOD, AND EATING FOOD. And somehow, you figured that getting yourself around required a two-ton tank with a 300-horsepower engine and self-heating seats.

Least Intrusive, Most Effective

The least intrusive, most effective rule is a good one to live by. Effectively accomplishing the task at hand is always the priority, but the art is in minimizing your impact on the greater landscape. Cars easily accomplish daily tasks but are mightily intrusive to our living situations.

Toy or Tool?

Cars are more toy than tool.

This is not completely a downside to cars. People being attached to their things unlocks a new level of investment and long-term care. But, generally, the cars we buy are emotional purchases that scratch our inner child’s itch, rather than offer a sense of security and functionality of our inner adult.

Disconnected Mindlessness

We are mindless when we drive. So much so, we text, scroll social media, and blast music while captaining our tanks on busy roads. We put ourselves on “autopilot” and disconnect from the community around us, disassociating with everything that isn’t the final destination.

Cars are cheap, car driving is expensive

Cars, for all intents and purposes, are super cheap. So the two-ton tank with a 300-horsepower engine and self-heating seats…that’s only $20,000? And that money can get broken down to $500/month? How much time, money, and effort would it take you to build your own automobile? A lifetime of frustration and every cent you’ve ever owned? But now, with the power of the assembly line and efficient engineering, you can own this thing for $15/day?

The financial barrier to entry is low – that’s a big problem. Because the use, maintenance, and upkeep of these cars cost us a lot. No one’s ever become rich off of car buying (except, maybe, cars that are only used as toys). But a lot of us have gone broke (and usually not on the day of purchase, but the continual monthly obligations).

Living Far Away

Even if you have a car, a project worthwhile would be to design your life around not having a car. Can you find a location that has all of your essentials within a few miles? Work, play, marketplace, school, church, etc. Cars give us a false impression that we can live far away from the things that are important to us.

As I wrote this:

I tried to ride my bike home with groceries. The paper bag ripped, a dozen eggs got scrambled on the sidewalk, and a runaway cantaloupe barrel-rolled into traffic. Sometimes, life is funny