“You were driving but I was lost in my own navigation”(17).
Driving. Typically thought of as the verb of operating a motor vehicle. The physical act requires getting into the car, taking safety precautions if you choose to do so, putting the key in ignition, turning the key as the car purrs to life, and finally in that moment of switching gears is it time to “drive”.
Add another life into the passenger seat and the navigator is now responsible for not one, but two lives in this man made box that operates so well on wheels. Although the habitual routine becomes something like a second nature, the consideration of the possible risks may lose some of their significance. Whether it be wearing a seatbelt, speeding, or simply the conditions in which you are driving can become increasing more difficult without much precaution. Metaphorically, a passenger that is stepping into the car is somewhat like stepping into a new relationship, letting someone else take the wheel. While you and the driver might not think of the dangers, the destination is the next step to consider while finding a newfound love.
While I am someone who is one terrified of dying in a car accident and two, had a very hard time expanding my emotional capacity beyond a four year old when it comes to relationships, I can see how the narrator becomes “lost in their navigation”. Not knowing the place you’ll find yourself with someone by your side. The one who holds your life in motored vehicle is also the one who can lead its emotional course as well. Sitting there in a passenger seat it’s easy to find yourself half in reality and between the worlds of your own fantasies. Stepping into a relationship is like handing over the keys and the destination as well to your partner. While your partner will not intentionally crash the car to make sure you burn into a thousand pieces (and if they are then it’s too late I guess) accidents are bound to happen sometimes and neither party can do much about it. The unknown is the scariest part and I think the emotional leap the narrator takes is what I find as scary as the car accident.