The Desire Map

Rarely do we think of desire as something more than a sexual impulse. But desire doesn’t just drive our animal instincts! So what does it do? Let’s investigate what desire really is, and what we use it for.

Desire is the power of wanting. It’s an engine of creativity and a purposeful force. When we desire something, we’re willing to plot and plan to get it. Desire is something we act upon, and it’s something for which we make sacrifices. It can make us angry, it can thrill us, or it can fill us with despair. In all cases, desiring something forces us to get creative in order to work out how we’re going to get what we want.

Can you remember a high school crush you had? If there was someone you sat behind in science whom you really wanted to kiss, perhaps you thought up all sorts of creative ways to make them notice – dropping hints, writing notes, and so on.

Desire is also a force that pushes your evolution as a person. Imagine if every time you met someone new, they gave you a written list of all their desires. You’d certainly learn a lot about them very fast! Our desires reflect things we face in our current realities and reveal our dreams for the future. Often, fears get in the way of our desires for the future. By tackling our fears, we’ll also tackle our dissatisfaction with life as we become brave enough to achieve all the things we desire. This is precisely what helps us grow as individuals.

Finally, desire is the spark that keeps our will to live burning. Could you imagine a life where you stopped wanting things altogether? Without the desire for food, love, sex, companionship or achievement we’d have nothing to get us out of bed in the morning. In other words, our desire fuels us.