Pleasure

During a typically thought-provoking conversation last evening with an intelligent young friend, the subject of life's enjoyment came up. My young friend, who is developing his persona and credentials in the international diplomatic field, said he looked forward to being my age some day so he could truly enjoy life's moments in an uncluttered and simple way. This got me thinking.

I live in a culture where the hedonistic pleasures of youth are practically a religion. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll have been American obsessions since the late 1960s. The mutated Sexual Revolution now presents as media-driven, soft-porn crassness, staged around the globe in resort-cities from Vegas to Phuket. The MTV reality show, Jersey Shore, exemplifies this cultural trend.

My young friend was looking at my life and commenting on its apparent simplicity. While I do not experience it as he sees it, my life is comparatively simple by choice to his. It must be. As I explained to him, his life, at 20 something, is about construction and my life, at 62, is about deconstruction. We seem to connect as those on opposite ends of a life spectrum often do, since life, being rather cyclic, tends to bring ends of a spectrum together to form a circle, or continuum.

The experience of pleasure does indeed change with personal development, age and circumstances. The body and brain change. Stimuli are processed differently with biochemistry of age and experience. The key, from the perspective of personal practice, is to develop a taste for the changing nature of pleasure, rather than specific pleasures themselves. By nurturing a tolerance and eventual enjoyment of change in the nature of pleasure, the wise person can always live life with enjoyment. The experience of joy becomes an active pursuit, a part of daily practice, rather than the passive sensation of repetitively pursued external stimuli.