This is a guest post written by Sarah at Happy Go Lucky! I am a happy-go-lucky sort of person who enjoys her quiet little life but wonders if there could be more out there…..
Hey there peeps!! I hope today is treating you well wherever you may be. Today has been as always quite a busy day for me. Such is a day in the life of me (or indeed a week).
Small Pleasures
I have found myself reading a lot of Psychologies magazine lately and I must say I am finding it to be a real inspiration. There was a short article at the end of a recent magazine called Small Pleasures, which talked about Hobbies and me time. Now, me time is a familiar concept these days really – people often extol the virtues of me time and taking time out for yourself and to pamper yourself. It is a much-discussed topic: but do people actually follow this up with action on their part?
What are small pleasures?
A lot of these me time activities though are things which have an end result. For example – I might go for a manicure and to the hairdressers, which would be lovely and would feel absolutely great. But then maybe I would do that not necessarily to enjoy the experience but to reap the rewards of my glam new look. Which again is fine, but whatever happened to hobbies that don’t necessarily have an end result? Do we allow ourselves to indulge in doing things for no reason anymore? And more importantly, should we? And what on earth would we do if we did?
Pleasure is not about getting something it’s about simply being.
The article argues that pleasure shouldn’t be goal-oriented. For instance – people going to see the latest movie and reading the latest must read book just in order to be able to talk about it at parties. Not for the pleasure of actually watching the movie or reading the book itself. Pleasure should not be about getting something it should be about being. It’s about being happy and really enjoying a moment.
We should all do things to lose ourselves – things that are just for amusement and just for fun. Not in order to get or achieve something.
I think it is so important for us all to remind ourselves of this. My favourite quote from the article I read is this one:
“Pleasure can be quiet and joy can be idle”.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
With that in mind I am off for a lovely relaxing bath! What do you do to relax and unwind? Are you an exercise junkie? A bath taker? A book reader? A film lover? Leave me a comment and let me know!
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Well I have to admit that I do take me time seriously. I am a book lover and read often for the pleasure of reading but most importantly for the unending pleasure of doing something for me. I also am a gym junkie, but that me time has an end result, of looking and feeling better. But, while I’m working out I don’t see or find pleasure in it!
LOVE this article! we need to take time to just BE sometimes! its hard sometimes to pause life and do something just because, but we need to!
awesome article its so true and I’m glad I took a second and read this because I just like many people get lost in the hustle of doing that I forget to enjoy…nice reminder
-Shanny
shanny recently posted..Intertwined
I have learned the long hard way that everyone, especially, a woman who is caring for others needs to always make time for me time. I like to treat myself to a mani/pedi every so often. I like to go to my bedroom and either read or write. And my ultimate me time is to getaway, even if only for a weekend.