Survival of the coziest: exploring small pleasures (GUEST BLOG)
Hello you crisps of the crunch.
This is Leah, Amy's middle sister, and I am back after my debut dispatch to serve as your first guest Earnest Platypus in 2020. As we push through the cold dark winter months of the year, I wanted to write about all the small pleasures in life. In other words, what can make me happy when the weather makes me so sad? #HatetheBoneChillingCold
I did a little crowd-sourcing on facebook last week and asked friends and family for their top small pleasures. I LOVED getting everyone’s responses, learning what gives you all that happy buzz. Most of the small pleasures fell into three basic categories: actions, settings/states, and smells/tastes. I especially enjoyed the small pleasures people shared that were very specific – this action in this setting with this taste or smell.
From this crowdsourcing, it’s a comfort to confirm that our small pleasures are simple pleasures. The most popular responses were clean sheets and sunsets, joys accessible to the masses. For me, I’d include lake swimming, playing music with friends, a drink with teammates after a game, and completing small house projects.
A quick search presents many articles about embracing small comforts and pleasures in life. Humans are not very good at sustaining joy from one big thing once, as we get acclimatized and saturated by the joy experience very quickly.
Studies recommend spending less on big ticket items and redirecting your energies to all those smaller experiences and little things that make you smile. Forgo the second car or big trip to Cuba – spend a fraction the money saved on amazing summer BBQs and a pair of warm socks! Rather than one $40 bottle of wine, enjoy two 20$ bottles of wine on separate occasions with friends. I was wondering if this is similar to why meals are more delicious when you are starving. Or why I enjoyed doing laundry so much after not having a washer for nine months. Along these lines, should I value the agony of winter because it makes summer so sweet? ...nah. I can’t lie to myself like that.
And so, what do we do about the risk of adaptation to the sources of pleasure? How do we keep all our small pleasures ‘fresh’ enough to keep on generating that joyous buzz? How can that tenth taste of your favourite cheese still do the trick?
After reading some of the science, I am debating spacing out some of my more frequent treats (e.g., wine with supper only on weekends). I am also going to incorporate some of your small pleasures that you’ve shared with me. If it makes you happy, I am guessing it will probably make me happy too. Worth a try. Except the inbox at zero thing.
When I started writing this post, I was thinking about small pleasures as the old reliable tried-and-tested joy-creators we depend on, but maybe/probably I was wrong. Variation is one of the catalysts, so let’s all try to catalyze our joys! Break the routine and plan new experiences! Grab a different cheese! Brew a new tea! Play a different song! If you hate them, that’s okay. It will probably make you love your tried-and-true small pleasure once again. If nothing else, today is the day to change the bed and enjoy getting into bed tonight with the scent of clean sheets!
In celebration of small pleasures, want to pick back up a childhood passion? Check out this video on how to fold paper airplanes
Or maybe you are interested in discovering new music? Here’s a list of some amazing up-and-coming jazz musicians.
From one pleasure-loving person to another, I am glad that we can appreciate the simple things in life together. I hope you enjoyed this dispatch, and have a coziness-filled week!
Until next Sunday,
Leah, on behalf of The Earnest Platypus