JUNE: Pleasure

Synonyms for pleasure abound. Joy, satisfaction, gratification, delight, diversion, recreation, contentment, etc. Yet there is a distinction between pleasure and joy. Pleasure is a temporary or fleeting feeling, and is usually dependent on stimulus from the outside world. Joy arises from within when we bring full awareness to our experience.

Wikipedia lists 14 sources of pleasure: senses, wealth, skill, amity, a good reputation, power, piety, benevolence, malevolence, memory, imagination, expectation, pleasures dependent on association (like guilty pleasures), and the pleasures of relief.

In this conversation, we invite you to explore the assumptions about pleasure and how our perceptions of pleasure change over a lifetime.

  1. In social situations, what does (and doesn’t) bring you pleasure?

  2. What childhood pleasures do you fondly remember?

  3. What is your definition of a guilty pleasure?

  4. When is indulging someone else’s pleasure a joy for you?

  5. Explore the juxtaposition of pleasure and pain. Pain and suffering can negate pleasure. Does pain negate joy?

  6. Have you experienced all 14 types of pleasures? Which ones can’t you relate to? Which ones bring both joy and pleasure?

  7. Reflect on the group experiences of pleasure.

  8. Takeaways.

Adelaide Waters