Can We Derive Pleasure for Ourselves In The Worst of Times?

Deriving Pleasure From a Pandemic

I have taken up writing since the onset of this pandemic and it has served my inner creative mojo quite well.

Dare I say I am deriving pleasure from writing during a pandemic?

And just like that the question of “how dare I” pulls me right out of my writing pleasure zone and into a world that feels fearful, uncertain, and just plain scary.

What if there is something we are missing when navigating the land mines of this most auspicious year?

Our ability to cultivate pleasure is one of the most needed medicines on our planet right now.

What is Pleasure? And What Is Keeping Me From Having It?

Pleasure is the feeling and expression we experience when we are having Joy, Happiness, Elation, and Ecstacy. More synonyms elicit pleasure as well, but you get the idea.

What’s most important about understanding Pleasure is that it is an experience of being out of control. Pleasure has no boundaries, no real limits, and can last for as long as we are willing to have it.

Pleasure can feel uncomfortable long term because that feeling of being out of control can feel quite unsafe. As a result, we’ve trained ourselves to become comfortable in our discomfort. Yikes!

Lessons Learned From The Diary of Anne Frank

I am often drawn back to the diary of Anne Frank. Anne Frank was locked into an attic with her family to escape persecution in World War II.

A young lady who managed to write in her diary during a horrific holocaust that eventually took her life and the majority of her family’s lives.

Anne’s maturity as a young teenager inspires us to dig deeper into our humanity and find the courage that exists in all of us.

She reminds us…

There’s only one rule you need to remember: laugh at everything and forget everybody else! It sounds egotistical, but it’s actually the only cure for those suffering from self-pity.

Self-pity is a behavior that can swallow us whole if we allow it. I would rather look to a future that is already whole. A future that invites us to know that these times we are living through were only meant to teach us about ourselves.

You can dig deeper into your humanity by asking, “What is Life Teaching me about myself now that I am refusing to know because I am scared of losing control?” Just asking that question will cause you to pause because it bypasses your Ego and heads straight to your Soul.

Whenever you ask a question it will get answered. Be “ok” that the answer may not come immediately, but know that it will come because you asked. Thus bringing you a change that is a part of your growth.

I Refuse to Have Pleasure Because the Guilt Will Kill Me

This idea stumps me a lot if I am having pleasure and those around me are not then I better shove it under the rug. How dare I consider being happy when many people are suffering under the weight of this pandemic or discrimination? And the list goes on, loss of loved ones, loss of income, loss of entertainment in the way we once experienced it, unjust systems, corrupt governments, and record level pollution in our environments.

Won’t I be seen as selfish if I find something that I can derive pleasure from in these not so good times?

Enter the saying “It’s None Of Your Business What Other People Think About You” This saying is necessary when embarking on the journey to pleasure.

It’s the only way your pleasure is going to survive. Of course, others will have an opinion about your pleasure and happiness. Your Happiness can be met with jealousy, disgust, and sometimes be embraced. But, that does not matter because none of their opinions are your business.

When I tell myself, that my Joy and Pleasure our more important than aligning with those who refuse it, then I can have it without all the guilt. Having Joy is the very thing that permits others to have it for themselves.

And As We Look Around We May Notice…

The dominant and accepted emotions on this planet our sadness, anger, and fear.

We are socialized to become compliant and compliance is coaxed out of us by utilizing fear. It has been done for millennia by governments and religions to perpetuate control over us.

Fortunately, it does not work forever as evidenced by uprisings throughout history that have leveled the playing field.

Now is such a time when the pendulum is starting to swing in the other direction. This imbalance of power to become rectified will take time, however, it only takes seconds to decide if WE can be the change in the world we would like to see.

So be BRAVE and choose to be the expression of your pleasure that always manifests as the JOY you were born to be.