Why I'm Choosing Pleasure This Month

This time of year is so inspiring for me. Everything is blooming and green here in Appalachia and nature is reminding us that we are abundant. If we have felt sleepy, dormant, or quiet, we can count on the fact that renewal is right around the corner.

I am also deeply invested in my personal growth—always, but especially in the spring. Personally, I’ve been growing at an exponential pace for a while now. Opportunity after opportunity has appeared for learning about myself, feeling uncomfortable, and experiencing the sweet and grounding knowledge later that the path I was on was exactly where I needed to be. My creative energy has been flowing and I’m so grateful. I have lots to share with you, new projects and collaborations in the works, and a sense of grounded urgency to communicate what I’m learning, synthesizing, and experiencing in the world.

And right now, what I’m learning about is pleasure.

I have been reading Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown and once again, her work is turning my world upside down. I realize I have so much to learn and question and that’s a really good thing. She outlines the many elements and aspects of pleasure (which is often associated with sex and sexuality but actually extends far beyond those) and ways we can increase our sense of pleasure, joy, love, and connection.

Because I have been absorbed in producing new material, trying to stay organized, and planning ahead, I know I’ve lost some of my ability to be present in a moment-to-moment way in my downtime. That focus is reserved for my therapy room because that’s where I need it the most. When I don’t have that presence in my personal life, I default to my old patterns: anxiety, fixation, stress, and obsessing about things I have no control over. Have you ever found yourself giving so much to your work that other aspects of your life begin to shift in ways that don’t feel great for you? I’m grateful to notice this and I’m determined to do something differently.

I’ve decided to choose pleasure for the month of May. I am bringing my attention to the tiny moments that feel good, joyful, and loving; the ways in which I experience awe. I’m slowing down, tuning in, and fully appreciating what is right in front of me. For me, the very foundation of pleasure is mindfulness. Showing up. Being present. Allowing my gratitude to bloom and expand in my heart and feel it move through my body. Sitting there, staying with it, acknowledging it, and sharing it with others.

I’m choosing pleasure because I deserve to feel good (you do too).

I’m choosing pleasure because playing out every worst case scenario isn’t helping me feel better or reducing my experience of anxiety.

I’m choosing pleasure because I feel confident that when I look back on my life, I will want to focus on joy and love and connection and I don’t want to have to dig deep to call up those experiences. I want them on the tip of my tongue, on the surface of my skin, woven throughout everything I do.

I’m choosing pleasure because I want my “yes” to be incredibly powerful. I want my “yes” to mean “I’m here. I’m so fully here. I’m all in, in all the ways. There is no place I would rather be.”

I’m choosing pleasure because I believe it is a revolutionary act to rewire my brain to orient toward things that make me feel good instead of afraid.

I’m choosing pleasure because I’m ready for more simplicity, more joy, more spaciousness—and I’m ready to embody those characteristics because life is too damn short to be living any other way.

Does this sound like something you need, too? How do you know? What is waking up in your body when you consider moving towards pleasure? We can commit to this together and we can notice what happens in our lives when we do. At any given moment, we can choose something other than what we are experiencing—we are never stuck.

So, how are you going to experience more joy and pleasure this month? If you’re on instagram, we are using the hashtag #mayisforpleasure to stay connected around our moments of pleasure. You can also reply to this email and let me know your plans!

Sending you lots of love and pleasure!

Elizabeth