The Pleasure Factor

Posted by LeeAnn on October 26th, 2009 at 11:50am

“Many people mistrust Pleasure, and even more misunderstand her. For a long time I could hardly stand to be in the same room with her. I went to sleep early to avoid her. I thought she was a gossip and a flirt and she drank too much. IN school we learned that she was dangerous, and I was sure that she would distract me from my work. I didn’t realize she could nurture me.”
The Book of Qualities – J. Ruth Gendler

When was the last time you consciously participated in pleasure? I am not talking about sexual pleasure, though that can be a form of conscious pleasure, I am talking about claiming pleasure as a co-partner on the journey of day to day life.

The dictionary defines pleasure as:

The state or feeling of being pleased.
Enjoyment, amusement or satisfaction from liking or taking delight in something.
A cause or source of delight or enjoyment.
Sexual gratification.

How often do you consciously live in the place of being pleased or delighted?
Is your day, week or year filled with engaging in what pleases you?

I have been guilty of setting pleasure aside on my life. I have put all the busy-ness in front of what delights me, and yet when I take the time to be creative or take a walk in nature, I always return to my to do list with greater energy and a much better attitude. In the beginning of my exploration of pleasure I couldn’t even list was really pleased and delighted me. I decided that if I didn’t know, how could I expect to let others know so that we could do the pleasure journey together.

Julia Cameron helped me discover “artist dates.” I have taken the concept into Divine Cowgirl activities. Once a week I do something that feeds my soul – a soul spa of sorts. Sometimes it is a day of silence. Sometimes it is calling some friends together to share dark red wine with Lindt Chili Chocolate (did I say this is amazing chocolate!!!). Sometimes it is a walk in nature. Sometimes it is taking out the crayons and playing on paper. Other times is an outdoor fire watching the moon rise.

It has taken me a while to become friends with pleasure and invite her fully into my life. I now have a list of things that pleases me that I keep on hand, just in case I forget. I invite you to take time, right now, to write a list for yourself. Even more than making the list, I invite you to commit to consciously making a pleasure date with yourself every week.

I’d love to see your list and share it with other’s who have forgotten or needs some starter ideas for their pleasure journey…. Please share!

Let this last week of October be a week of delight, pleasure and fun!

By the way… don’t forget to check out the website… Cowgirl Soul Spa’s are coming soon..

Happy trails,

leeann_sg