In the moment

After many years of thinking and talking about buying a motorcycle, I finally did it this weekend. With a training course under my belt and all the financing in order, I ventured out to Carrollton Kawasaki on Saturday morning to buy my new Vulcan 750 cruiser.

I must be honest - I was really nervous driving it home. As everyone has seemed rather eager to point out to me since I began searching for a bike in earnest, there is a certain element of danger in riding a bike that just doesn't exist riding in a car. The vulnerability of being out in the open is certainly something to take very seriously. My ride home was a bit nerve raking, as I tried to get a feel for how the bike would take curves and negotiate turns. It was probably a mistake to make Mockingbird through Highland Park my route home, with one lane each direction filled with cell phone using SUV drivers. Having survived that gauntlet unscathed if not unrattled, I arrived home.

My next ride - around the lake - was a bit more relaxing, and my confidence began to grow. There is something invigorating about overcoming the fear and embracing the joy of motorcycle riding. It is truly a spiritual experience. Every second on a bike is spent living in the moment - Bryan and Kim helped me put words to my unformed thoughts about that this morning. Riding requires complete focus on the task at hand: both mental and physical. There is no worrying over something happening in the future, no dwelling on things that have happened in the past. Just complete focus on the task at hand.

There is freedom in that focus. Freedom from stress and worry. Freedom from planning or reflection. Freedom to just be.