I moved into a new apartment a year ago. It was a move meant to downsize my living space and to give me the external structure to work on building a simpler life. It turns out that was a great thing for me to have done. I have been so happy in this new home and simplifying my life has brought me so many wonderful things.

One of the things I thought about when I considered this apartment for my move was the fact that my back patio and the door with a big window that opens onto it face a fairly busy street in my town. Sometimes the street is pretty quiet but most of the time there are a lot of cars driving on it in both directions. I wondered if there would be noise from the traffic that would bother me, or if the amount of cars driving by would disrupt a peaceful environment.

That has not been the case at all. There is a slight background noise from the cars sometimes but it seems to blend in and just become a part of the day. There are often a number of cars driving past but instead of finding that annoying, I have instead found it to be kind of comforting. I realize that might sound kind of strange, but to me it isn’t.

Because the sound of the traffic and the sight of the cars driving past has become to me the sights and sounds of life going on around me. The people who are driving the cars that are making the noise are out and about, living their daily lives. They are part of my community, and seeing and hearing them move about reminds me that I am a part of a community and I am not alone.

That feels comforting to me. That reminds me of how fortunate I am to live as part of an intact community, a community that is going about living their lives together in a place of peace. People who are enjoying the freedom to drive their cars whenever and wherever they choose, and who are fortunate enough to have the means to have a car to drive. I think about all the places the people are driving to and the things they will do when they get there, and I realize that so much of that is about them performing jobs that contribute to the good life I have and completing tasks that are about taking care of their families and providing service to others.

There are a lot of good things that are a part of the sights and sounds of cars driving past. Sometimes there are things happening in those vehicles that are part of a difficult time for someone. When I hear the siren of an ambulance or fire truck and I see them speeding by, I now see that as an invitation to offer up a prayer for whoever is suffering and for the people who are driving those vehicles in a response of helping them. I remember how lucky I am to live in a community where those services and those kinds of people are part of the fabric of it.

I view the cars driving by, the emergency vehicles speeding by, the sight of all of those vehicles and the sounds that they make – I view all of that now as just life going on around me. I am glad I am not alone and I am part of a community. And those sights and sounds remind me of how fortunate I am to be alive another day and to live my life as part of that community.

I hope you celebrate the life going on around you today!