Stepping into the sun on a cold day : is it UV rays I feel, the vitD increase, or just the serotonin in my brain? Piloerection on the skin- have I stayed too long?
Not exactly. But how about the physical pleasure of being alive after being told by doctors that you are dead? My 3rd 5* book. FREE. Why free? Because you/we are more important than the money. Please keep up the good work! https://www.fearlesspuppy.info/newbook Love from Kathmandu, Tenzin
A little longer than an essay, but not a terribly long book: “How To Do Nothing” by Jenny Odell. Talks about many things, but this is a theme that does pop up.
If you're okay with Type II fun, Krakauer's Eiger Dreams is full of them. I'm thinking about the John Gill and Devils Thumb essays specifically, but reading about climbing is just one of those things that makes you feel alive
Funny, my brain immediately went to "The Comfort Crisis," which I'm reading right now, and is sort of about the opposite of pleasure as we usually think about it. But I'm a huge fan of Type II fun, and I do think it's all connected in ways our culture gets wildly wrong.
I am surprised to now be a person who enjoys a 90 minutes yoga practice and how I leave that space, especially when I started the session feeling off, so high.
The Art of French Cooking is also a wonderful read. It’s so much more than recipes! Julia’s sense of humor and enjoyment of food & cooking are delightful
Maybe the ASMR-adjacent experience of listening to Peter Yearsley (mellifluous English LibriVox reader; not sure whether he’s a household name) read about ghosts, orchids, and secret chambers? For example:
The physical pleasure of a reciprocated, inadvertent smile. When a child or elder smiles, you can't help but to smile. And it literally causes a jolt of pleasure. To me it's one of the core indications of our interconnectedness. Especially in these times.
There are some excellent essays in the collection Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant. It's not recent (2007). It's filled with essays about eating alone and enjoying it. It's one of my favorite collections and now that I'm thinking if it, I'll be pulling it out to read later.
In keeping with the times, perhaps something by the Marquis de Sade is in order, either Justine or 120 Days of Sodom ( in our case it will be 4 or more years), and it even includes an illuminating view on corners of the Catholic priesthood.
Pleasures of a Tangled Life by Jan Morris (1989) is a book of essays, and I recall several of them were focused on physical pleasures (eating, walking, petting cats)
I’m a clinical sex therapist and would be happy to help gather resources with you. The value of nonsexual physical pleasure is remarkable for the individual and collective human system!
Dr Barry McCarthy has a wonderful article about the 5 dimensions of pleasure. Feel free to connect with me
I remember J.W. Prescott's "Body Pleasure and the Origins of Violence" (1975) being interesting to me during a long-ago research project (on confessional war poetry); not sure how well it has aged, though.
I don't have any specific essays, but would recommend looking up things by autistic people, specifically about sensory seekers and stimming. So much of what we seek out is about physical pleasure that quiets our minds.
There’s lots of ways to have physical pleasure:
A hot bath
The smell of essential oils in a humidifier
Sitting in a massage chair
Eating a favorite meal
Listening to binaural beats on your headphones
Kissing ad hugging someone you love
Going outside and breathing in the air
Swinging in the park
But in doing so you may have done a service to Bluesky in giving posters a chance to take pleasure in the savouring the memories of pleasure, and in suggesting the sharing of pleasure to come. Sophie Grigson, Exploding Tomatoes - a cookbook with essays.
Comments
William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
jtc
#musicsky
https://jupitertuningcenter.bandcamp.com/track/the-change-and-you
https://aeon.co/essays/forget-plato-aristotle-and-the-stoics-try-being-epicurean?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://librivox.org/ghost-stories-of-an-antiquary-by-m-r-james/
beef stew with astonishingly layered flavor on a chilly day
hmm, can you tell I am cold? :)
Dr Barry McCarthy has a wonderful article about the 5 dimensions of pleasure. Feel free to connect with me
I'll send the worksheet I use in a separate comment...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/sep/27/delight-jb-priestley-classics-review?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Like ch. 3 is about why she and her house love each other. “On Pleasures in Principle” is the prologue. Etc.
A hot bath
The smell of essential oils in a humidifier
Sitting in a massage chair
Eating a favorite meal
Listening to binaural beats on your headphones
Kissing ad hugging someone you love
Going outside and breathing in the air
Swinging in the park