Can I give up my car for Lent?

Getting the bus

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 15:57:29 +0100

Today in the pouring rain I got the bus. I could see my car parked at the other end of the road and I spent a few minutes seriously considering getting in a driving into town. But I stuck it out and the bus journey was quick and actually more convenient than driving in. One slightly bizarre moment when the bus driver said to me 'you smell as ravishing as you look' which I'm sure is not normal public transport conversation - I will have to make sure I don't get on his bus again. Or, at least, if I do I'd better make sure I smell 'ravishing' - don't want to disappoint my public!

So far then, so good. I'm going out of town tomorrow - but I think that getting the train into the city is probably going to be far less stressful than driving in. An interesting fact worth mentioning - apparently my home town has the highest carbon footprint in my county - all the more reason for me to do something about it and for the council to start making the buses more efficient. My quest continues...

On another note I went for a 2 mile run today and actually felt like I could have run further - I'm getting healthy YAY!

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My final plan

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:41:18 +0100

OK,

This is my final plan:

I will give up my car for all UNNECESSARY car journeys. This means if I have to get somewhere at night (the buses in my neighbourhood stop at 7.30pm) - like play rehearsals which I'm involved in at the moment I will drive. I don't particularly want to walk in dark secluded streets at night.

I will, however, get the train, bus and walk whenever else possible AND I will write to my local council to ask about why the buses don't go later into the night - that seems to me to be the most proactive thing that I can do.

Hope that meets people's approvals - and check back for my diary of no-car life!

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Should I do it?

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:44:23 +0100

I've been thinking about giving my car up for Lent but the decision is proving hard to make. My first qualm arises from the fact that I'm an atheist. Theoretically Lent shouldn't mean anything to me, why should I deny myself pleasure or comfort in honour of a God that I do not believe in? Yet, it's hard to dismiss the feeling that giving something up at this time of year is worthwhile - both for body and, dare I say it, soul.

Why should I be able to get all the fun of Christmas, all the flipping of Shrove Tuesday and all the chocolatery of Easter without giving something in return? It seems easy in this country to pick and choose the bits of religion that seem fun or exciting and to leave the difficult bits to the true believers. But even this causes problems - is it really that difficult to give up chocolate, or sweets or coffee for 40 days? Does that really and truly bring Christians closer to God. Somehow I don't think Jesus's suffering in the desert was quite the same as not having your morning Frappucino or evening Pinot Grigio. So, those are my problems with Lent in general; it doesn't hold religious significance for me and it's often hypocritical and far too easy.

However, as faithless and degenerate as I am there is something which I care about deeply and which, if I prayed, would be in my prayers constantly. That is the future of this planet and whether we can turn from the path that we have been running headlong down for so long. Lent, then seemed like a good excuse for me to see if I could live without my car - 'great idea' I thought, and felt smugly satisfied with myself. It was the same feeling as planning to go to the gym or for a run - plans which in my case do not often come into fruition. There seem to be a lot of barriers to the 'no car' lifestyle. How will I visit my boyfriend who lives 50 miles away, how will I get to university with all my heavy books AND my computer, how will I get home to my parents who live 150 miles away? Public transport is, of course, the answer but the trains from here are not great and I'm not sure if there is a bus. I'm a student and so, by definition lazy but I desperately want to be able to do this and prove to myself it is possible.

What, after all is the point of getting my PhD if I can only teach for a handful of years before the planet drowns in its own pollution? Or having a boyfriend if our (hypothetical) children don't have a world to grow up in? As an atheist I don't have the believe in a God that will save us, we have to save ourselves. So, teetering on the edge of this time of self-denial and life-enrichment I am too, teetering on the edge of a no-car lifestyle. Will I do it? And, should this be something that more people should be doing? By Wednesday I will have made my decision.

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