Willie Nelson
This week we’re going country with Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again. And for why? Well, when I originally wrote this, after eight years and one-hundred and thirteen thousand miles our little car, which had never broken down, finally gave up the ghost. And guess what, immediately we wanted to get back on the road again.
The song itself came about when Nelson was asked to write the soundtrack to Honeysuckle Rose, a film about a struggling country singer falling into temptation whilst juggling career and family. I think most of us experience the difficulty of juggling different aspects of life; you don’t need to be a country singer, or for that matter, have a family.
Most of the time, we just get on with the act of juggling all the aspects of our life. In the case of the film which inspired the song, the juggling aspect was upset when temptation fell into the path of the singer. In our case, our usual balancing act was upset by not having access to a car.
Yet it’s in times like these that a few things often become apparent; how much we take for granted, the kindness of those around us, and the things which we should really be focusing on.
In Nelson’s song, the challenges faced by the main character are eased by the opportunity to get back on the road with friends. Sharing our joys and challenges with those close to us can make such a difference to our experience of life. For us, we were so grateful for the support of our family and friends. It’s also helped us to re-remember to be grateful that most of the time we do have access to a car and all the convenience this brings to our lives and so not to take this for granted.
Finally, taking a break from driving for a week or two was also an opportunity to simply stop rushing about and just focus on what was in front of us. Our usual juggling act involved being in lots of different places in short succession. Taking more time to get to places, we squeeze less in and can be more present in the moment. As the song puts it; getting the chance to see things we may never see again. So, whilst overall an inconvenience, sometimes a forced pitstop can be just what’s needed.
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