There's a big construction site close to where I live; they're building a fast lane to connect the area to the city. They blocked off the regular slow road and forced us all to walk through the mud every single day.
I've been spying on the progress and realized, hey, they've already built one of the sidewalks! If I could sneak into the construction site, I could get faster to the library, not to mention get home mud free.
And that's exactly what I did. On foggy nights, when nobody could catch me, because nobody could see 2 meters ahead. I sneaked around the wired fence like a little criminal, going my merry way trough the forbidden dark land.
First time was exhilirating; the area was filled with weird holes, big machines and sandy spots, and I could barely see where I was going. But I got there unharmed, was very pleased with myself, and repeated the excercise. They eventually fixed the holes - it turned out these were for lamps, smoothed out the odd areas and moved away most of the machines. I no longer had obstacles. And I realized, this is no longer fun.
Not because it felt less illegal, but this road was monotone and repetitive to the point of resembling a psychological torture. There's tiles and lamps and nothing else. The whole area is surrounded by a sea of mud, no trees, no bushes, no grass. Nothing to look at. Every time I took this road it felt like I was walking into nothing, I saw nothing, only repetitive tiles over and over under my feet. It was like walking through a long empty corridor.
There's a different shortcut I took before this; this is how that one goes: Climb around the construction site to get to the road. Ditch the road after 30 seconds to take a little path in the mud obscured by trees. It takes you down to the building complex and a big parking lot, with trees and lamps shining through their branches. Walk through the children's park with colorful swings, climbing challenges and benches. Another patch of muddy grass, walk by 3 big trees to get to the main road. Avoid the cars and there you go! You're wet and tracking mud but you're in the city.
I noticed when I take that road, I feel better. I have seen the trees and the benches and my surroundings kept changing, from nature to human habitats to nature again. It feels good. I remember my trip as a fun one. Even when it's a little longer and less convenient, it feels free.
They lit the lamps in the construction area, so I can no longer walk there unnoticed in the night. I also no longer want to. I started dreading the day they open the road because I know what will happen. It will be more convenient. Shortest path to where I want to go. And it will make sense to take it. And abandon my whimsical, muddy journey that is infinitely more fulfilling and fun. Because they created a path that will take me 4 minutes less to walk.
I'm worried this happened to everything. We got offered a more convenient option, and without thinking, abandoned the whimsy we used to have. Because it made sense. It was faster. And it happened bit by bit, sneaking up on us until we found ourselves in repetitive lives, wondering why it felt so blank and empty, where did the whimsy go? What happened to the way we used to live in, that made us more fulfilled?
And it's unthinkable to go back, because where's the progress in that, it's less convenient, it's more work, we're used to minimal effort. Our repetitive psychological torture hallway is saving us from all the effort we had to put into things. But we forgot we liked that better. It made us feel happy. It used to bring us where we needed to be. And before the new path was there, it was always worth it.
