I believe in singing to your steering wheel. I believe in the power of song. When a person sings to their steering wheel they can let their inhibitions go. You are alone, in your own secluded little world. Nothing in the world can bother you. You are completely free to be yourself, or even pretend to be someone your not.
It doesn’t matter if your dog just died or if you just got a promotion at work, when nobody else will listen, your steering wheel will, and it will never talk back or give you the advice that you don’t want to hear. You can laugh, cry, or even sob and in the end you’ll always feel much better. Sometimes, it just feels better to turn up your radio, pick a song that best describes your feelings – whether it be Aretha Franklin or the Backstreet Boys- and sing along with it at the top of your lungs. Just as it would always be there for your complaining and boasting, it will be there to listen to you belt out your favorite tunes.
When you sing to your steering wheel, it doesn’t matter if your singing to loudly or if your completely tone deaf. You never seem to care what the people passing you are thinking, because you know the only one that you’ll ever have to see again is your always dependable steering wheel. For some reason, whenever you are singing a powerful anthem, your speed increases, and the exact opposite occurs when you are singing a soulful melody. As the people trailing behind you begin to get upset with your crazy antics, they tailgate you, flash their high beams and lay on their horn. But you don’t have a care in the world. Those people don’t bother you, because right now you are playing Mariah Carey circa 1993, singing for your dream lover to come rescue you so you can let him know that you want to spend forever with him. Ten minutes later, you catch up to an elderly woman who decides to go 30 in a 55, usually, you would decide to follow her and wait until she decided to turn off the road, but tonight you feel like taking risks, as you hum Michael Jackson’s hit, “Beat It”. Not long after you slow down and tears come to your eyes as the radio DJ plays a song that reminds you of your lost love.
Music can be liberating joyful and exhilarating – not to mention empowering. When you sing to your steering wheel you don’t have to worry about what anyone else thinks. Everything that would usually bother you doesn’t, for those ten minutes in the day that you can call your own. Once you park your car, turn the engine off and step onto the pavement, your imaginary world has disappeared and reality has set in. But reality isn’t always a bad thing. Since you had the few minutes to yourself, you now feel reenergized, as if you drank three cups of coffee. Now, when you see your boss- who you know didn’t give you that promotion because he would rather give it to his daughter’s new boyfriend- you will greet him with a smile instead of a grunt. And in your head you will still be humming your favorite song, which will be enough to help make it through the day. All you will ever need is that simple tune to help put a smile on your face, and as we all know, smiles are contagious. You never know, that few minutes of beat boxing in your car which brightened your day could force you to spread happiness to five other people who in turn would spread that happiness to others. You could make a huge difference just by starting out your day, or ending your night with a quick high pitched note on your way to or from your destination. And always remember, your steering wheel will always be there to listen