The untouched snow lasts longest where nobody needs to go.

Perfect surfaces usually mark the places nothing needed to cross. What stays untouched is often simply unused, and the marks elsewhere are the record of people getting where they had to be. It is worth remembering when you admire something unspoiled, and worth remembering when you compare your own worn arrangements with someone’s pristine ones. Wear is frequently evidence of usefulness rather than of carelessness.

Look at what in your life is scuffed and ask what that scuffing has been paying for. If something of yours has stayed perfect for a year, consider whether it is being protected or simply going unused.