The Pleasure Report. Week 52. The final week of the year edition.

This is it. We've reached the final week in the year of pleasure.

The Pleasure Reports are notes on the pleasure I found in my life each week. This purposeful focus on pleasure began in 2010. I was working with countless managers who were working themselves sick, our aim was to establish new ways of working that would not make them sick. And then realising that whilst ‘not sick’ might have been a good aim to start with, it was a terrible one to stop at. How about ways of working that are a pleasure?!  And so the study of pleasure began with The Pleasure Reports – a weekly record of -how many things were a pleasure -how many a pain and -what the pain to pleasure ratio was that week. I thought I’d do it for one year and ended up carrying on for three. You can read the whole story of how it began here and here.

Week 52 in a year of pleasure.

The Pleasure

Fifty three points

And a 54:1 pleasure to pain ratio

This is it. We’ve reached the final week in the year of pleasure.

A selection of the pleasure

Huge sun, sunrise

My morning drive isn’t a very enjoyable one for me. First of all I’m out of bed and driving while it’s still dark. The road itself is dull without anything featureful to speak of and it’s jammed with traffic so the journey takes 3 times longer than it does out of the rush hour. Which seems an ironic kind of name for a time when everyone is travelling very slowly indeed.

So, I thought I’d try a different route. A back road. It is much better.

There is actual movement rather than sitting still in traffic watching the person in the next car do their make up.

There’s fields and trees and curves to the lie of the land and the road heads straight for the point on the horizon where the sun rises.

Which it did in spectacular style 2 days running this week.

It seemed bigger than normal, much bigger. And that made it look closer too.

Right there, slap, bang before me, radiating it’s glorious and most welcome, unreserved, rich, orangeness into the thin grey morning.

I can almost say I enjoyed the commute those days.

Crusty bread

I love crusty bread and sometimes it’s crusty and the pleasure is all from the crunch.

This week had double the pleasure. Crusty and tasty.

My gentlemanfriend is going to be very happy when he finds we have crunch and taste to go with our soup.

Possibly no flour enhancers or whatever else makes it tasteless.

It wasn’t even the most expensive one.

Now all I need is for you to distract me when I go to cut myself another slice as I could easily finish it by myself today.

Sanctuary

I’ve gone from

Sit in a tiny building, (home) quietly thinking and writing

to

Commute an hour in traffic to a huge noisy labyrinth of a building and talk to many, many people

The introvert in me has taken quite a bashing this week.

*Whimper*

My wee man (affectionate term, he’s 19 and 6ft 3) planned to cook an anniversary dinner for his girlfriend this week and I couldn’t face going out to give them the place to themselves but promised to retreat to my bedroom for the evening.

I thought I was doing them a favour but it turned out to be heaven for my whimpering introvert.

Good cheese, lovely cracked pepper crackers, nice wine, my book and laptop and the door closed.

I was tucked away in there, no-one having any expectations of me whatsoever.

No expectations of me to speak or even acknowledge anyone, not to feed the cat or cook or wash up. And I took no jobs to do there either. Nothing.

Oh joy. I’m thinking of making a feature of it. Maybe every Thursday night. After the rubbish bins are out.

I dreamt once that I had somewhere like that to go. It was sumptuous, with several chaise longues draped in silks and satins and scented oils and candles and double doors guarded by a pair of beefy gentleman with spears which they crossed over the doors barring entry to everyone.

I only need a do not disturb agreement to replace the guards and I’m pretty close. I have satin, oils and candles already.

I find myself wanting to name it.

Alliteratively.

Something Thursday. What starts with ‘th’ and means retreat? I’ll look into it.

The pain

Introvert seeking quiet space fails

*whimper*

As described above.

I’ve had a lot of information to take in this week.

And I do that by reading over my notes or thinking things through.

And to do that I need a certain amount of quiet.

I searched the labyrinthian building for such a place without success.

I found one space that was slightly  more quiet but the low rumbling hubbub quickly built up to discernible voices loud enough to catch my attention away from my notes.

A bit frazzled now.

The pain I did something about

After an hour trying but failing to concentrate in the slightly quieter place, I went home.

Thankfully I had no more appointments that afternoon so I could go.

It also meant I was travelling outside of the rush hour and got home in a third of the time. Bonus.

The Pleasure Posse

People tweeting their pleasures on twitter using the #itsapleasure hash tag

@LadyChrisMyers Finally getting why it’s so AWESOME to have a biz coach. Feeling so fired up after talking to @maryanndevine today. #itsapleasure

How about you?

How’s your week been? The comments are the place to come and share.

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