Nourishing Ourselves
A Case for Pleasure through Curiosity
I am in the place of my dreams. When I locate a safe place in my meditations, it is either the home in La Piscine—or it is here. I have a view of the Bay; indoor and outdoor living. I open my patio door most afternoons until dinner and hear the birds singing, the trees swaying, the warm glow of the California sun drifting across the backyard lemon tree. It is everything I have ever wanted circulating around me.
Being in a place that nourishes me this deeply, I am learning the importance of regularly returning to my senses—my body—to tell me what it is I need. For the longest time, I relied on my emotions to help me locate what my heart needed. Now, I am tuning into my body.
Some of us haven’t built these practices—through numbing out, or lack of access to our pleasure centres. Accessing them requires us to feel safe, and often to slow down and engage curiosity within ourselves. These are things that can feel vulnerable to explore, discuss, or even find language for.
Curiosity is something I am learning to let myself explore. I notice how I sometimes worry that someone might think negatively of me for slowing down to ask a question, or lingering my walk a little longer in a beautiful neighbourhood as I look at all the flowers. We, as a society, rush pleasure. We rush knowing what to do when we desire something or someone—even platonically. We rush ourselves into familiarity and comfort, to the point that exploration can feel overwhelming or difficult to access. Or permit ourselves access.
Creating can also feel hard in times of upheaval. During this weekend—where Valentine’s Day and love month meet the deep collective pain we are all navigating—we need nourishment and pleasure to support our grounded selves.
So in turn I’ve been mapping my own pleasure in accessible ways. From these, you can choose how deep and vulnerable you go, with yourself or with anyone you welcome into your space. It can be simple, or it can be exploratory. A beautiful place to begin is through our five physical senses: Taste, Smell, Touch, Hear, and See.
