Healing & Motivation

"We quiet our babies with cyclic movement, and we quiet ourselves by going."
Melissa Holbrook Pierson understood the not only the romance of riding a motorcycle, but the healing affects the motion of riding one of these incredible machines has on the human body and the human soul. She wrote about this in her book The Perfect Vehicle, another excellent book for motorcycle enthusiasts, and for those just curious about what it is all about.
My time in the seat of my bike has been personally healing and restorative in many ways. The time with myself, within myself, while interacting and observing the world around me is something I missed and and think we all miss in our daily lives (which is why I object to radios on motorcycles and blue tooth devices in helmets. Drive a car if you want to close yourself off from the world and from your own thoughts.) That being said, healing takes time, and the weather hasn't exactly co-operated with time in the saddle, nor have the requirements of everyday living, but of course part of the reason to work on that healing is to gain back the joys that can be found in everyday living.
I am finding that I can see myself in some of the words of Neil Peart in Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road when he states “What I really lack is some of my former power of enthusiasm, of getting fired up about doing a particular thing, or learning about it, so that it became more important than anything else in the whole world.” There was a time when I had an interest in something I would dedicate myself to learning every last aspect of that particular subject. This was not always conducive to my relationships as I could easily loose myself in my interests, but it always kept me moving forward instead of just being along for the ride.
That enthusiasm is returning though. I find myself studying my crafts again. My blacksmithing. My writing. My art. My wood working. I am really looking forward to finalizing the designs of some blacksmithing work I will soon be starting for one of the big churches in downtown Calgary. When I ride my bike I follow the front wheel, and for a while that direction was rather aimless, without any real destination in mind, often in big circles. As my mindset changed the direction of that front wheel changed. There still may have been no specific destination in mind but there was a direction, and as I have often been told, it it not the destination that matters, but the journey to get there. This is how I am finding life these days. I may not have a specific destination in mind, but I am choosing the direction now, and experiencing the journey on the way.
I find there is something else grabbing my interest, and that is the possibility of restoring an old bike or building one from scratch. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love my current ride, an 04 Yamaha Roadstar, and I won't give this bike up for anything. There is an art and craft in some of the old bikes that isn't reflected in most of today's all electronic monstrosities. There are personal touches that can go in a creation of your own that you just can't expect others to take the time to add in something they are not building for themselves. I often find myself dropping in on the Helmet Hair Motorcycle Blog and in a couple or recent posts like the one about Shinya Kimura and the dying craft of restoring motorcycles I see that I am not the only person who feels like this.
Just how creative can someone get with a motorcycle. Well check out this bike created from scrap by Bangkok-based artist Roongronjna Sangwonprisarn.

If you are out riding your bike on this long week-end stay safe. Keep the shiny side up. Highways are deadly places on long weekends and all too often our brothers on wheels are the victims.