Enjoyment -vs- Pleasure
A useful and powerful distinction, methinks. From the author of Flow (follow the link to the rest of the short but insightful article, particularly in relation to flow in family systems.)
"One must particularly achieve control over instinctive drives to achieve a healthy independence of society, for as long as we respond predictably to what feels good and what feels bad, it is easy for others to exploit our preferences for their own ends.
The knowledge - or wisdom - one needs for emancipating consciousness is not cumulative. It is not a cognitive skill and, as well as intelligence, requires commitment of emotions and will. It is not enough to know how to do it, one must do it consistently and it is a painfully slow process to modify our own habits and desires.
Pleasure by itself does not bring happiness. We can experience pleasure (e.g. eating, sleeping, sex) without an investment of psychic energy. Enjoyment on the other hand, happens only as a result of an unusual amount of attention. Pleasure is fleeting and, unlike enjoyment, does not bring complexity (growth) to the self. If one only invests energy in new directions solely for extrinsic rewards, one may end up no longer enjoying life, and pleasures become the only source of positive experience. Without enjoyment life can be endured and can even be pleasant. But it can be so only precariously, depending on luck and the cooperation of the external environment."
The Eight Components of Enjoyment
"One must particularly achieve control over instinctive drives to achieve a healthy independence of society, for as long as we respond predictably to what feels good and what feels bad, it is easy for others to exploit our preferences for their own ends.
The knowledge - or wisdom - one needs for emancipating consciousness is not cumulative. It is not a cognitive skill and, as well as intelligence, requires commitment of emotions and will. It is not enough to know how to do it, one must do it consistently and it is a painfully slow process to modify our own habits and desires.
Pleasure by itself does not bring happiness. We can experience pleasure (e.g. eating, sleeping, sex) without an investment of psychic energy. Enjoyment on the other hand, happens only as a result of an unusual amount of attention. Pleasure is fleeting and, unlike enjoyment, does not bring complexity (growth) to the self. If one only invests energy in new directions solely for extrinsic rewards, one may end up no longer enjoying life, and pleasures become the only source of positive experience. Without enjoyment life can be endured and can even be pleasant. But it can be so only precariously, depending on luck and the cooperation of the external environment."
The Eight Components of Enjoyment
Extremely interesting, and a matter demanding of our thoughts if we are to wisely consider matters of worth. I've always thought of pleasure vs. enjoyment as ...pleasure being "lighter" more "shallow"...with enjoyment being "richer" and "more deeply rooted"...different set of metaphors than some, same set as some, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteBut interesting. I have joy in tremendous depths...but its source is spiritual.
Just distinguishing those two categories is powerful; sounds like you've been exploring them in your own right. I have some thoughts on them too, just wanted to introduce the construct here, may be a good springboard for a future post in both blogs :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting to read how each person perceives certain words. I always associate pleasure with something "short term" such as eating fudge, playing with kids, etc. Enjoyment to me is a sense of well being and acceptance of ones station. It seems many people search for instant gratification for pleasure and find it is a "fleeting" fulfilment.
ReplyDelete