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PLEASURE
A respite from pain.
Sensory elation; a
mental caress.
One of nature’s
purposeful attractions.
An invited celebrity
into a decaying home.
Coercive sensations
coaxing repeat ‘performances’.
A reason for living
for some; a beacon for ‘righteous’ castigation by others.
A brief ‘titillating’
experience preceded by the allurement of euphoria followed by
rapid dissipation.
Mind ‘candy’ that is
available daily through the senses as well as recollections,
expectations and vicarious thrills.
A profound ‘jolt’ when
young; a ubiquitous, fickle ‘attention-getter’ for most adults;
a relief from boredom or discomfort sought passively by the
aged.
Invitation by an
age-old enticer/deceiver to a ‘feast’ you can only sample since
overindulgence will render the ‘fare’ repulsive or deleterious.
- Perhaps all
excess posses a threat.
- Perhaps a ‘sin’
when it supplants ‘duty’.
- Perhaps pleasures
of the mind are the ‘safest’.
- Perhaps the
heightened intensity of feeling in the brain is produced by
a stimulus for a particular purpose.
- Perhaps the most
common and detrimental misconception of the immature,
self-centered: Pleasure is happiness.
- Perhaps hedonism
has always been condemned because of its powerful appeal to
the weak, the self-indulgent who constantly seek escape from
responsibility.
- Perhaps a brief
reward for doing what we must; perhaps sought excessively it
ceases to be a reward and becomes an obsession that
overwhelms us and stunts our vitality of spirit.
- Perhaps an open
mind always seeking will find infinitely more pleasure in
the world than the ‘dedicated’ hedonist; perhaps variety is
essential for daily ‘enjoyments’ and personal growth.
- Perhaps as we
mature spiritual pleasures are sought and become more
obtainable: Beauty, order, enlightenment and the delights
and benefits of others; perhaps these encourage ‘man’ to
distain brutishness, to appreciate ‘life’ beyond the
physical.
- Perhaps there is
a considerable spectrum of both painful and pleasurable
experiences that relate directly to how much attention must
be paid them; perhaps life threatening, bodily intrusions
register with the same intensity as the most important
physical function of all living organisms: Procreation.
ESSAY ON PLEASURE by EDWIN
O’SHEA
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