We Need Pleasure

. . . to Survive!

We need pleasure to survive! (Exclamation point added.) I was pleased to see that blunt headline in the New York Times last week because it resonates deeply with me:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/opinion/health-pleasure.html

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The author, Jessica Grose, writes of recent warnings about alcohol, meat, and the wrong carbs. She says we are deluged with cautionary health advice and writes, “What seems less discussed is the role—maybe even the necessity—that having some simple pleasures plays in our life.”

Ah, yes, simple pleasures! Many happy moments make a happy day; many happy days make a happy life; and those foundational happy moments are often simple pleasures.

Jessica Grose quotes Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want, who says it’s worth seeking out pleasures that create bursts of positive emotions, “Happy people feel more frequent bursts of positive emotions,” she said. These pleasures need not be exotic.

Take pets. Here’s one comment the article inspired:

 fast/furious

I have a lovely affectionate Abyssinian cat. There are many days when I'm amazed at how much pleasure I get from sitting with her and stroking her, tickling her and talking to her . . . What did I do to earn this ecstasy? There are days when watching her and my dog chasing and smacking each other is the greatest pleasure in the world.

An Abyssinian cat

Caressing our pets pleases us and our pets alike and lowers blood pressure in both. Even watching pets is a joy! How we delight in observing pets closely and trying to divine their motives! Their inherent mystery is part of their appeal.  

Another reader suggested that we give ourselves spontaneous gifts as part of our pleasure principle.

Doc

Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it. Don't wait for it. Just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee.”

Yesterday I made a special trip to the UPS store to send away for recycling (through a Ralph Lauren initiative—so good of that company!) several stained, pilled, or motheaten cashmere sweaters of every brand. I knew this would make me very satisfied, and it did.  Not every pleasure is sensual. Six old sweaters will be repurposed! I am smiling at the thought even now.

Or , if you are very enlightened, you can get pleasure from the present moment, whatever it may be.

Photogirlla

I think pleasure is a mindset. Years ago I read Thich Nhat Hanh's "Peace is Every Step" and it really made me see things differently. I think if you decide something is pleasurable, it is. For instance, washing dishes. Nobody wants to do it. I do not want to do it. But if I tell myself the warm water feels good on my hands, the soap smells nice, the crud comes off and the dishes are sparkling...it makes it a totally different experience.  

Never underestimate the power of mindset! Getting pleasure from mundane moments makes life richer, and we can encourage that proclivity. As my mother would remind us, “We are each the prime mover of our own life”—and we can each bring simple pleasures into our routine.

My mother, Glynne Woolfenden, 1923-2022, at age 92

A favorite phrase of my mother’s was joie de vivre (and those who knew her felt she embodied it). To me, it’s the decision, or inclination, to enjoy everyday things, the slant of the sun, the chirp of the sparrow, the crunch of the cashew between your back teeth. Simple pleasures, all, which make life rich.