This is the first of what I think will be a series of thoughts on this, the topic of pain and pleasure.
two suppositions I will make
1We live essentially in a world of pain. The way we relate to ourselves is in reference to pain and the way that we react to the world is a response to pain. If you look at the newspaper I think you will find confirmation of this. Most of the topics revolve around suffering, sadness, aggressive violent behaviors and other features that maintain and strengthen a culture of pain. The way our government and economy function seems to be centered around pain to the degree that things don't really change until they get really bad. It's almost as if we push our limits of pain to see how much we can endure, when will we break. Most interventions economic and medical revolve around alleviating pain. The adage says pain is a great motivator.Relief being a transient moment out of pain. At this level, feeling good is being not in pain. I propose that getting out of pain is just the start. If you have a scale of feeling, I'd say that 0 is incredible amounts of pain, 5 is being out of pain, normal. What is on the other side? what about numbers 6-10?
2The other side of pain is pleasure. i think that we can shift ourselves and our world away from one that escapes pain and towards one that seeks out pleasure. I don't mean pleasure in a hedonistic, debaucherous, hypersexualized sense. I am referring to pleasure as a feeling of joy, ease, grace in your body and in the world. Think about the last time that you felt good, maybe you're feeling good right now. Now ask yourself, what would it be like to feel better than that? What would it be like to feel better than that not for a brief moment, but for extended periods of time. How would that change your life? I'm not talking about relief anymore. I'm talking about shifting the baseline of experience. If we live, relatively speaking, with pain, can't we live, relatively speaking, with pleasure? Since they are both valid and reproducable human experiences both are possible at any moment.
Consider these things and let me know what you think. If we choose to live, why would we choose to live with pain?
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2 comments:
i think the fear of being not just out of pain but also in pleasure on a longterm basis is that at some level we know that we live in a society that is structured around delayed pleasure. capitalism feeds on and rewards those who are willing to suffer now in order to gain later. If we felt ecstatic all the time, we'd have a lot of trouble doing the things we "have" to do and the consequences seem great. i sit in a cubicle everyday and breathe sterile air under neon lights surrounded by people i would never choose to hang out with on my own. I actually "enjoy my job", to the extent that i find some aspect pleasing enough that i dont "mind" going. if i changed my baseline for happiness and entered the world each day expecting a much higher consistent level of joy, then i wouldn't be able to stand this and i'd quit. and then i'd be out of a paycheck and then i couldn't pay rent and then i'd be out on the street. so, in a way, i am "better off" not raising my expections of physical/emotional/psychc pleasure or comfort.
i mean, i'm not saying i beleive this, i'm just saying, its a problem. what with capitalism and all.
Totally, I think the idea of being happy in a not too pleasurable environment is a little strange. But I also think that pleasure is an idea, a feeling that can be separate from the external surroundings.
Mostly, I'm saying that emotional outlook is something that we have control over. Reactions vary in response to environment. We can numb ourselves to its effects, dwell in the displeasure or start believing that the displeasurable situation, in your case work, is actually pleasurable. Which may not be the hardest thing to do considering as you admit, there are things you like about it and it does keep food on your table.
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