Everyday life ·
In praise of the long way
On detours, curiosity, and letting efficiency take the afternoon off.
There is a certain satisfaction in finding the quickest route. It feels like solving a small problem. But a life made entirely of quickest routes would be strangely narrow: very efficient at reaching places, less practiced at discovering them.
Room for a detour
A detour changes the kind of attention we bring to a journey. The destination becomes less urgent. We begin to see the route itself. A road bends toward a view we did not know was there. A wrong turn becomes a story instead of a mistake.
There are things you can only find when you stop trying to arrive.
Of course, not every day has room for wandering. There are appointments to keep and people waiting. But when a little space opens up, I want to resist filling it immediately. I want to remember that a spare hour can remain spare.
Taking the long way is a small decision. It rarely changes everything. It can, however, change the texture of an afternoon. Sometimes that is exactly enough.