Do you know what a desire path is?
Desire paths are the paths that show how outside spaces are used, shortcuts, and erosion created by people or animals.
I think about the desire paths we all have in our lives, our favourite hob, or mug, the seat on the bus we pick, that one spoon you like, the brand of soap we buy, and the route home you like to take.
At this time of year, when it’s dark, colder, and more expensive, desire can be hard to find. The default feels like it is tinged with misery. With bright spots dim on the horizon, getting up to a chilly routine can feel like the hardest task ever.
Of course, this is all relative, but without emotional context January is difficult and can test our emotional stability. I'm often asked how to be positive, and to have an outlook that inspires pleasure, and this time of year tests my resources.
This brings me back to desire paths, the routes we choose that prioritise the pleasure in the mundane. Making a cup of tea, boring and plain, can be elevated by personal choices. Using a favourite mug, picking the teaspoon you love, makes the minutiae of the daily grind far more pleasurable.
If you look for it, the small desire paths we all have in our lives, show us the small ways that we can choose pleasure, where misery could easily creep in. Think of it as letting light in, to quell some of the darkness that January sits in.
Notice the desire paths in your life, because they can make such a difference, lightening the load of every day.
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