How to Desire Map your way
It comes in a variety of flavors
Do you love to visit farmer’s markets? I can’t wait until the local markets open at the end of this month. I buy vegetables, fruits, and splurge on yummy baked goods. I also enjoy purchasing local honey.
Local honey is unique because it reflects specific times and places. The honey’s taste, color, and texture depends on where the bees collect their nectar and pollen and on the blooming plants in the area. What flowers were in bloom in a certain radius of the honeybee's hive when they go to collect nectar?
I first realized that not all honey is the generic version found in a plastic bear in a grocery store over a decade ago. While vacationing in New Zealand, I discovered Mānuka honey. It is thick, dark cream to dark brown, and delicious. The mānuka flowers bloom for only two to six weeks per year making this honey even more precious. (I’m not a connoisseur and still appreciate my honey in the cute container too.)
Sweetness in variety
In my virtual Desire Map workshops and coaching sessions, I have an exercise I like to do. I ask everyone to come to the first session with some honey, ideally a local variety. I ask them to put the honey on a spoon and to savor it, which is very hygge, one of my core desired feelings.
I ask them to observe the color of the honey in light. What color is it? Colors range from colorless to dark brown like molasses. In general, light-colored honey has a milder flavor, and dark-colored honey is stronger.
Next, I ask them to close their eyes and smell the honey. Does it smell sweet? In researching this article, I learned honey has a variety of smells. Bright and citrusy. Floral. Fruity. Fresh as grass. Smoky. Woody. Earthy. Nutty. It can even smell pungent like aged cheese. Who knew?
I ask them to open their eyes and to observe the texture and consistency. Thin and runny? Thick? Smooth? Has it crystallized?
I save the best for last, tasting the honey. I ask participants to let the honey melt on their tongue with their eyes closed. Savor the flavor. Discover both an initial taste and then detect other subtler flavors.
Honey as a metaphor for the Desire Map process
Every woman gathered tasted honey. Each variety was different but recognizable as honey.
We each bring our flavor to the Desire Map process. A bee gathers nectar from different flowers. We, women, gather our “nectar” in the form of our education, life experiences, passions, and true nature. I reassure them that there is no right or wrong way to do this process. In the end, we will all produce our core discovered feelings like the bees create the honey.
In 2015, I discovered the initial taste and sweetness of the process. I delight in discovering the subtler flavors that only come with time. Sharing this work with others deepens my delight in the flavors of the Desire Map even more.
How will you Desire Map?
Will you devour the book from cover to cover and do it on your own? (This is how I Desire Map.) Would you prefer to gather in a beautiful setting during a retreat? Or would an online workshop work better for you? Or do you prefer to dive deep and do the work one on one with coaching? What about a hybrid of coaching and reading the book cover to cover works best for you?