How I Found Freedom From the Unspoken Rules of Society

Rules form tiny walls in our lives, but we can break them down by going within

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Yesterday, on the way home from a movie, I stopped at a red light. I then reached up to touch the air freshener that hung on my rearview mirror.

It was a homemade gift from a friend, shaped like a palm tree and made with little colorful aroma beads. Called a “freshie,” it was baked into its shape and now hung from the rearview mirror by a rubber band.

I loved the item and regularly rubbed my fingers against the bumpy side. It somehow seemed chaotic, all those little bumps on the front.

The back side of it was smooth and dim. The colors fused together against the flat baking pan there, like a steady backbone supporting the uneven front side.

As I ran my fingers along the smooth back, I turned to my curious boyfriend, who sat in the passenger seat. “I like this air freshener, but I wish the front side wasn’t so bumpy. The back is smooth. Why can’t the front be smooth?”

I wondered for a moment if he might tell me I was crazy to spend so much time thinking about such a small detail of life. It wasn’t anything significant. It was, after all, just a car air freshener.