Before ignorance is OK, there was simple pleasures. One contemplative night at Steak n Shake with Jennifer Gunby, I spelled out a new intent. This was waaay back in the early aughts. She probably doesn't remember anything but the malt, and I certainly don't remember my words. I'll try my best.
What is a simple pleasure? Quick. Direct. Immediate. Easy. Inexpensive. Natural. It's what drug addicts would do if there were no psycho-actives. Not basic needs, basic wants.
Examples include chocolate, hot chocolate, cold chocolate, disc golf (or whatever you like even though you should like disc golf), temperate chocolate, that feeling you get after a good long run (note that you get the feeling, I haven't had it in a while), picking up something an old lady dropped (rhymes perhaps?), watching the leaves fall from the trees, writing a haiku (seriously), free performances at KU, and tempting your little nephew with cheese!
Don't get so caught up in achieving the big goals that you forget to be happy now. Have to study? Find a nice view or a cohort that smells nice. Have to work? ... tough it out? (I don't have all the answers.) But if something quick and easy presents itself, go for it—the sky probably won't fall during your indulgence. Seek these out.
As always, implementation is a matter of finding balance. Linderman carves out the spectrum, and now we must find our point on it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment