Why Small Pleasures Matter

We often drive ourselves in pursuit of large pleasures: traveling to a foreign country, shipping a disruptive project, going to a once-in-a-lifetime music event.

A cult of the exotic or unusual.

But there are other, many small pleasures lying around us that can bring us a wealth of joy, comfort, and creativity with little cost and effort.

“Small pleasures” as portrayed by the book of the same title written by The School of Life, are those things we enjoy but are currently underrated, or those we fail to pay enough attention to.

One fundamental issue with small pleasures is that we tend to get used to places, people, or activities, and things that are familiar lose their power to entice the imagination if we stop being aware.

 
Personal archive (2020)

Personal archive (2020)

 
 
If anyone can have it, if it’s easy to come by at home, if it’s a pleasure that’s best repeated, then it can’t be important. Yet the fact is, many of the things that do give us satisfaction have just this character.
— Small Pleasures (2016) p. 237
 

As a practice of noticing, after reading this book and also seeing Austin Kleon’s logbook, I started journaling random things or happenings on a daily basis, and here are some in no particular order:

  1. Deep breaths

  2. Feeling warm sunlight hitting you on a cold winter day

  3. Flowers

  4. Fresh bread

  5. Long hugs

  6. Sitting at a bench and people-watching

  7. Old photos

  8. Trying food ingredients or meals you have never tasted before (like nutritional yeast which I had never tried until recently but is amazing on popcorn)

  9. Laughing loudly

  10. A beautiful ceramic plate

  11. Being awake at dawn

  12. The voice of loved one

  13. Going to a park

  14. A glass of cold water

  15. Guessing the exact word someone was going to say

  16. A good night’s rest

  17. Lighting candles

  18. Fresh orange juice

  19. A well-made bed

  20. Lying on the grass

  21. Long walks

  22. Reading a book in one sitting

  23. Gazing at the sky

  24. Dancing

  25. A good stretch

  26. Twinkle lights

  27. A bicycle ride

  28. The sound of waves

  29. Fresh herbs

  30. A day with no plans

  31. Walking barefoot

  32. Nice stationery

  33. Chocolate

  34. A nap

  35. Falling into research rabbit holes

  36. A facial massage

  37. Figs

  38. Movie night

  39. The farmers market

  40. Learning a new word

  41. Fixing something

  42. Starting a conversation

  43. Dressing up for no reason

  44. Watering plants

  45. A refillable fountain pen

  46. Reading poetry

  47. Essential oils

  48. Music playlists

  49. Observing trees

  50. Discovering the work of someone inspiring

 

And the list could go on forever.

What is important is that we begin to map the things that bring us pleasure and enjoyment, no matter how small they are (step 1). The point isn’t simply to note them but to understand why we like them – which intensifies and deepens the satisfaction they offer.

The map of our personal delights probably speaks greatly about what we love, and ultimately, who we are.

These pleasures give us more creativity, happiness, and inspiration.

But we tend to leave the reality of experiencing them very much to chance. We need to make a consistent space for small pleasures in our daily life, making them part of our plans (step 2).

As pointed out in the book, “our collective model of a good life tends to focus on career progress and financial management”. Those are things we actively seek out. Why don’t we do the same for small pleasures?

Ideally, we’d schedule more appointments. We’d put it in our plans: Sunday 10 am, staring at the sky. We’d create rituals from them so we can experience them with more frequency when we work, play, and rest.

The normal attitude to small pleasures is to think that they are, individually, perfectly nice but that they are rather insignificant. They come at random into our lives. We savor them for a moment, and then they’re gone.

However, “small pleasures turn out not to be small at all: they are points of access to the great themes of our lives.” (p. 9)

@silviagilroldan

@silviagilroldan


References:

  1. The School of Life Press. (2016) Small Pleasures.