Singing at the top of your lunges in a car is an experience that well, just makes life better. I lovingly call these serenading sessions “Melissa Melodies,” in honor of my best friend Melissa who introduced the beauty of this fine concept to me. When stressed, sad, happy, or just bored, Melissa was known to disappear down the back-country roads of North Carolina to belt her heart out. She would return a new person.
I learned to find freedom in these solo melodic sessions and had myself a little freedom-ride of my own yesterday afternoon. My twenty minute drive to nowhere and back was the absolute highlight of my day. I sang loudly to reggae-ton remixes, almost blew out my VW Jetta speakers, and drove just a little bit too fast for my own good. It was freeing, empowering, and reviving. Passersby looked strangely at me, which somehow made the experience even better, for there is something wonderful released in the human spirit when we stop worrying about what others think of us.
It’s time that we stop worrying so much about what others think and that we start to just do what we love to do. If you want to sing, sing loudly. If you want to dance through a store, dance confidently. Remember, it is the people who are the most eccentrically themselves that we respect the most, so let’s emulate their example and just be ourselves.
