This was a thought I’d been harboring for a while. A cheerful smile, a jog for a mile, a warm hug, a beer mug, a cute pooch who licks or random chick flicks, the variety of things that make us happy have never ceased to amaze me. It shows how different we are from each other.
The pleasure of the small pleasures of life is in recognition of the fact that they are small yet pleasurable. So how do we know when we are happy? How do we know what exactly made us happy, when we are happy?
In my own assessment and my fetish for theorizing and creating frameworks, I’ve classified the sources of pleasures into the following broad categories:
· Intellectual Pleasure – This kind of pleasure refers to the happiness one derives from getting intellectual value additions. It is either through assimilation of knowledge, insights or realisations which make one feel a sense of achievement or a mild enlightenment. It is the euphoria of fulfilled curiosity, of a question that gets answered. Thinking, reasoning, analysing and learning are the fundamental traits that separate us, the human creed from other creatures of nature. This is that fundamental pleasure which seeks to titillate the intellectual senses of a human being. It broadly refers to the topmost layer of Maslow’s hierarchy of perceived learning or Self Actualisation. That’s what scriptures have glorified as ‘Nirvana’ – The eternal state attained by the ‘learned’
· Emotional Pleasure - This kind of pleasure usually refers to feeling of being wanted, loved. We feel emotional pleasure when our deeply entrenched needs of association and belongingness are fulfilled. Be a compliment from a loved one or just an “I Love You” does it for us. As per Maslow’s hierarchy, the pleasure one experiences upon fulfilment of the emotional safety, security and socialisation needs.
· Physical Pleasure – The absolute crude bodily pleasure experienced by us would be categorized under Physical Pleasure. These pleasures predominantly deal with the happiness one experienced through any of the 5 sense of (Touch, Smell, Feel, Taste and Sight). It could be a pleasure of getting a spa massage or the taste of your favourite chocolate or the fragrance of your preferred perfume. These pleasures are highly dependent on choices or preferences of each unique individual and any generalisations would not be fair.
· Materialistic Pleasure – The happiness derived out of material tangible possession is the source of this pleasure. This pleasure is highly relevant based on the financial power and desires of an individual. Materialistic pleasure can be derived from anything ranging from a lollipop to a private island. It is the joy derived from possession and ownership of material things.
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