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(OT) "Tip of the Week" - Do You Know How To Have Pleasure?

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No, this is not an advertisement for Viagra, although the headline implies it could be. This is actually a very serious question which has been on my mind since I read this passage from a novel I'm reading by Elizabeth Gilbert called "Eat, Pray, Love.":

"Generally speaking, Americans have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure. Ours is an entertainment-seeking nation, but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one. Americans spend billions to keep themselves amused with everything from porn to theme parks to wars, but that's not exactly the same thing as quiet enjoyment. Americans work harder and longer and more stressful hours than anyone in the world today. But as (it has been) pointed out, we seem to like it. Alarming statistics back this observation up, showing that many Americans feel more happy and fulfilled in their offices than they do in their own homes. Of course, we all inevitably work too hard, then we get burned out and have to spend the whole weekend in our pajamas, eating cereal straight out of the box staring at the TV in a mild coma (which is the opposite of working, yes, but not exactly the same thing as pleasure). Americans don't really know how to do nothing. This is the cause of that great sad American stereotype - the overstressed executive who goes on vacation, but who cannot relax."

I don't know how many people can relate to this passage, but upon deeper reflection, I realize many people I know do not know how to 'relax into pleasure' that is uninterrupted. I call this type of relaxation 'decompressing.' Decompression has no interruptions. Yet interruption comes in many forms including the brain bringing you back to work, projects, unfinished business, fretting about meeting goals, success, money, the future and more all while trying to 'do something else' which is supposed to be the opposite of work. And that wears on the soul. It means you are never fully 'in the moment.'

I know I fall victim to something maybe unique. My brain is always in overdrive. I am reading constantly, addicted to mental stimulation to the point the only way I can disengage from 'work' is to distract it from what it is doing with different mental stimulation. I don't know if this is sad or good or pathetic. But it is me. No matter what I am doing I feel I need to be doing something 'work-related' or mind-stimulating. I don't feel I've earned relaxation until I've done something more 'achievement-oriented.' Someone once said to me, 'how sad.'

As a solo practitioner, is this a luxury we are depriving ourselves from more so beyond the stereotypical employed lawyer or even American? Is this really an American phenomenon or crosses cultures? Or are there many out there who have mastered the art of relaxing into pleasure and are truly able to turn off their working brains and enjoy the sheer joys of life's simple, non-entertainment, driven pleasures?

Please let me know.

..... just typing out loud.

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Full post as published by Build A Solo Practice, LLC on January 18, 2009 (boomark / email).