When I drive my car and I look out on the road, I tend not to focus all of my attention solely on what’s ahead of me (Don’t worry, I’m not looking at my phone and texting while I drive). What I mean is that I like to look around at the other cars and the people driving them. Why? Because what happens on the highways and roads is a perfect gauge of what’s happening elsewhere.​

There are all sorts of different kinds of drivers. Some people drive way too slow and some drive way too fast. There’s the occasional accident that delays everyone else but most of the time traffic keeps moving. 

When you start to look at the road as a metaphor for the world and a real good indicator of what's happening in it, things start to make more sense when you leave your car. People tend to act like they drive.

People operate in real life at various speeds, just like when they drive their cars. Some are reckless and some are overly cautious but everyone is trying to arrive somewhere.

When we’re driving down the road there are often sharp curves that make us want to slow down. Some are so bad people won’t drive on them, but if you remember what you were taught back in driving school you’ll be okay — accelerate into turns. 

Life is going to throw lemons at you so you can pucker your face and complain about that sour taste or you can head into a situation determined to make lemonade out of it. On another note, you wouldn’t want an always predictable road that just went straight the entire time anyway, because it’s the turns and the curves that take you to interesting places and make things interesting.

At first, things often look intimidating and scary because they are new. But if you toss away your fear and embrace what’s in front of you wholeheartedly with full confront, you will win every time.

Next time you’re on the road (without taking your eyes too much off of it) observe the way other drivers choose to tackle the road. Notice the speed demons that put everyone around them in danger, the ridiculously slow ones that make people honk their horns out of frustration and the ones that try to maintain the speeding limit at all times.

Be willing to drive on any road and when life throws you a curve, accelerate into it. That’s how you stay the course and reach your destination. You gotta be quick and move fast and be a little fearless. Don’t let life’s traffic ever bring you to a grinding halt. It’s perfectly okay to go over above the speed limits, especially when the road throws you a curve.

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It may not be apparent at first, but I know there is a strong connection between the fact that so many Americans are driving Japanese cars (and using Japanese electronics of course) and so many Japanese people reading Manga (the Japanese word for comic book) and so few Americans reading comic books anymore. It is my opinion that comic books play a very strong role in the development of imagination because they literally transport one into a completely different reality, into a world which sometimes looks like our world but where anything is possible. And I truly believe that it is the imaginations cultivated by comic books that yield forward thinking, future-minded individuals which produce innovations such as better cars and electronics which push mankind forward. If Americans are driving Japanese cars it is because they are currently emerged in a culture which calls comic book fans nerds and losers, tells the artist he will starve and struggle and calls crazy anyone that does not tow the line.

What about Japan? Well, it is said that over 40% of all printed material in Japan is manga. When you ride the train in Japan you see people of all ages, business professionals as well as young people, reading manga. They show up every week excited for the new manga releases and their entire manga industry far out produces the United States and every other country. It is the number comic book consuming country on planet Earth. Manga artists and writers also significantly out produce their American counter-parts, creating a culture where artists are highly respected and admired. And while American comic book reading continues to slip, Japanese manga sales continue to climb, especially in America and Europe.

To give more understanding of the current American comic book scene, let's examine the title "Batman" by DC Comics, long used as the bar in which to judge all title sales because it is one of the most steady sellers. Well, a typical issue of Batman, released once a month, will usually sell 50,000 to maybe 80,000 copies in the United States. Not the sales figure you were expecting right? In a country of 311 million people you would think the number would be higher. If only 1% of all Americans read comic books that would be 3.1 million people showing up to their local comic book shops each week, but sadly the actual number of comic book readers is tiny. And this from a country that invented the comic book and super heroes. This is from the country that created "The Avengers" and "The Dark Knight" and a slew of Hollywood blockbusters based on comic books.

I'm an American. I drive a Honda. I read comic books but I also read manga. I want to be where imagination is and follow those that nurture and encourage it. We let the automobile slip away from us and the comic book too, but it doesn't mean we couldn't reverse the trend and reclaim our top spot. As I write this Elon Musk at Tesla Motors out in California is building one the greatest electric cars on Earth and great American comic book writers and artists are creating the stories that will be the next big Hollywood blockbuster. Rethink what is happening in our world and figure out how you can play a part in creating a more ideal one: filled with better technologies and better art. Let's make a world where our imaginations are let loose to create so maybe one day there will be less need of doctors and lawyers and more need of artists and writers. After all, nothing heals or helps more than art does.
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