Pleasure Seeking

Pleasure. In my world it's not exactly a dirty word, but it's also not something I indulge in nearly enough.

I was brought up with directives to "simmer down" if I got too excited, and "shift into low," was another favorite of my mom.

My mom was a lovely person, but as far as being a role model for seeking pleasure? Yeah, not so much. So consequently I am someone who is driven and doesn't put much energy into seeking pleasure.

I put a photo of Christian Louboutin shoes here because I dream of a day when I can have the pleasure of purchasing a pair of completely dreamy, impractical shoes. That to me would be incredibly pleasurable.

I am aware that I am bad at taking time to feel pleasure. I'm not a Luddite, but I do tend to spend a lot of time working towards my goals and not taking time to seek pleasurable things.

It's easy to get caught up in achieving. our culture celebrates that. And, if you also have a personality that tells you it's never enough - that each goal met just moves the finish line, you're probably not going to be a pleasure seeking missile.

Someone I know was recently talking about flying kites. I thought, that sounds so fun, when was the last time you flew a kite? Or did anything that was just goofy and had no point?

It's all well and good to want to be the best, to accomplish great things, but I am realizing that if there isn't some pleasure thrown in for good measure, what does it all mean? Being a super-practical Yankee can be useful, but it's also limiting.

Pleasure is not a four letter word, and it's something I want to learn to embrace - without guilt. I know it won't be easy, but what good is success if there's no pleasure to reward it?