10 Useful Tips to Derive Pleasure from Everyday Things
One of the hardest things about modern life
is the creeping sense of banality, that every day is exactly the same,
as you wake up at the same hour, go through the same motions, stand in
the same traffic jam and do the same work. There is something extremely
dehumanizing in this repetitive routine, but the trick to taking your
humanity back is in understanding that things are not the same, and it’s
up to you to spot the difference. Here’s how:
1. Savor Food
For thousands of years now, food hasn’t just been a matter of sustenance
for us, humans, rather a culinary experience. Though we eat because we
must, we also eat because we enjoy food. Commit to the pleasure food
brings you. Let it roll around your palate before you chew it and
swallow it down. Consider every bite and how it makes you feel. Eating
this way, you will also feel fuller because you’ve extracted the most in
terms of experience out of your meal.
2. Seek the Beautiful Wherever You Are
Look around with your own private camera and seek the most beautiful
thing in the frame, no matter where you are. The beautiful can be an
object, a plant, an animal or a person, but it can also be a particular
composition, the way the light falls on something, a pleasant color
scheme, etc.
3. Ponder the Mundane
Think about the most trivial things and ask yourself questions about
them; why is that town named that way, and who gave it that name? Why
don’t grown men wear shorts? What do insects look like when they sleep,
and why have I never seen one asleep? This is a great way to foster
curiosity
4. Ask Yourself How You’re Feeling
Look inwardly at your thoughts and emotions and try to observe them
without judgment. Have a conversation with yourself (not out loud!)
about the things that are bugging you and try to resolve them by giving
yourself good advice. Heck, if you can help other people out, why
shouldn't you be able to help yourself?