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.
Fifty nine pleasure points
12:1 pleasure to pain ratio
The Pleasure
Fifty nine. That’s on the low side
But there were a few of the pleasures this week that were so wonderful, I’d have been happy with them alone
A selection of the pleasures
A Welcome
I visited a new bunch of people this week
And the Welcome I got was so welcoming that I’m giving it a capital W
The quality of attention and the sense of complete unconditional acceptance…no …it was more than acceptance
It was a welcome
And they were completely present, not half of their attention off elsewhere attending to something else
That is so very rare in my world these days
Oh my
That was gorgeous
A Casserole
I visited my wee man, he’s away at University
And I took a casserole
Ha!
I turned into traditional Mama
Ha!
This is a new persona that has shown up unexpectedly
The day before the visit I suddenly found myself thinking…yes, chicken and veg…that’s what I’ll put in the casserole
Whilst the other parts of me were turning to each other in surprise asking ‘the casserole……what casserole?’
And there was the (new and unrecognisable) trad Mama, in the car going to the supermarket for the ingredients and spending the evening cooking
Whilst the other parts looked curiously on
I quite enjoyed it
We’ve decided to make it a regular thing
Once a month, I’ll bring a casserole, he’ll supply the wine
Nice…I like it
Bentlily poetry
Oh beautiful is she
The art of noticing life
In a poem a day
Completely perfect for a life of pleasure
To notice the moments of life and gaze on them, till you feel them even more
This from the Valentine’s day poem, The cinnamon drink
‘promise me you’ll tell them
it was the rumble of daily life
that made me flush
with love for you’
see the whole poem at bentlily
The Pain
Sleep is fitful
It’s not surprising, with all the change and mourning, and letting go
But it leaves me with less energy for the practicalities, the organising of changes and letting go
This too will pass
How about you?
How’s your week been?
I’d love to hear
Come and share all in the comments
.
Casseroles, warmth, poetry – sounds like a lovely week, though better no doubt with more sleep.
I actually started reading a novel again, after no energy to do so since Bobby’s arrival. I danced to a couple of tracks on a CD – he thought I was a bit odd – courtesy of restarting The Artist’s Way with the Sustainably Creative group. I bought a little sketchbook and pen. Bobby has wanted lots of tummy tickling. We rode on a bus yesterday for the first time – he was great. My birthday today – I’m having veggie haggis with a friend who is just arriving.
There was pain – a lot of it physical after Shiatsu. But overall a good week.
Yay Happy Birthday!
And for successful bus rides and novels