Taking pleasure in everyday things

What does pleasure mean to the Stoics? It’s not a party at the top of the Ritz-Carlton with caviar on blinis, a champagne fountain, and can-can girls doing cartwheels. The writer Elbert Hubbard described Stoic pleasure as a form of gratitude: When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

This is the pleasure we take in ordinary, everyday things, including the ability to enjoy – the ability to experience pleasure. 

Stoicism added more life to my life

Studying and incorporating Stoic values has contributed to my sense of deep pleasure in life. I am a fairly happy-go-lucky person to begin with, and Stoicism has added even more life to my life. Stoicism teaches the importance of accepting the present moment, taking it as it is, without dwelling on past mistakes or worries about the future.

An obstacle I face every second of every day is chronic pain due to a rare neurological illness. We often describe chronic illness with war-like metaphors. You are going to “beat” this disease, you are going to fight it, it is a battle. This frames life as winning and losing. I’m a lover, not a fighter. If I feared or fought the pain, I would be anxious every second, unable to take pleasure in anything. 

Your soul is dyed with the colour of your thoughts. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, V.16 

Words have power, and I don’t want to have my vocabulary infused with negative words. This will not enhance my sense of Stoic pleasure. My goal is to have my soul retain its vibrant hue. 

The wise man is self-sufficient. …If he loses a hand through disease or war…he will be satisfied with what is left, taking as much pleasure in his impaired and maimed body as he took when it was sound. - Seneca, Moral Letters, 9.4 

I don’t usually think of myself as maimed, but I take his point. As Stoics, we don’t let obstacles impede us, nor do we let them stand in the way of our pleasure. 

We also live in accordance with our circumstances. The fortunate Stoic must not become jaded. The Stoic facing difficult circumstances must not become bitter. Stoicism isn’t about the search for pleasure, but practicing Stoicism allows us to find pleasure anywhere.

Happiness is not another place, it’s this place. It’s not another hour, it’s this hour. The more you focus on time, past and future, you miss the gift of this moment, the present. There is nothing more valuable. - Author unknown (attributed to different people.)

A tip of the hat to the wisdom of the Stoics and the insight of the above quote.

Any of us could be gone tomorrow, so we should savour every day and its pleasures as they come. Even if you live to a ripe, healthy old age, untroubled by serious illness, the end comes for all of us. That’s no reason to pout. Seneca tells us to: 

Cherish old age and enjoy it. It is full of pleasure if you know how to use it. … It is the final glass which pleases the inveterate drinker, the one that sets the crowning touch on his intoxication. -  Seneca,  Moral Letters, 12.4. 

Celebrating drunkenness is not something I personally do; I prefer moderation in this, but I don’t mind the pleasure of a glass of John Jameson on a chilly evening.

The ancients distinguished between hedonia, or pleasure, and the higher feeling of eudaimonia, which contains the idea of happiness but is a more total sense of well being and flourishing. Modern neuroscience also makes this distinction, but research shows that experiencing pleasure is correlated with mental and emotional flourishing, and vice versa. Pleasure helps us flourish, and flourishing helps us enjoy life.

Seneca teaches us to take pleasure where we can. Pleasure is being awake to the small moments of happiness we experience, and being grateful for them.

I believe in celebrating the non-monumental pleasures in life. Enjoying a coffee, just the way I like it, at my favourite diner. The daily exchange of greetings I share with the fruit vendor on the corner is a small moment but a beautiful way to begin my morning walk. Strolling through Washington Square Park, I’m delighted to see the dog walker holding on to nearly a dozen leashes, each attached to a different breed of varying sizes, making me smile. These small, simple pleasures remind me that happiness is not getting what you want, it is wanting what you have. I love this life.

Karen Duffy is a producer, actress, and former MTV VJ. Her latest book on Stoicism. Wise Up (https:// amzn.to/3PpLv5D) is published by Seal Press.

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