Pleasure and Enjoyment

Kauai HI - Apr 2012

I'm coming back to the book Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I'm excited to share this concept that seems so simple, yet I had never recognized before.

"Pleasure is a feeling of contentment that one achieves whenever information in consciousness says that expectations set by biological programs or by social conditioning have been met." The examples of pleasure given are: tasting good food, passively absorbing media, traveling, etc. Of course pleasure is enjoyable and important but alone, it doesn't ultimately bring happiness.

"Enjoyment is characterized by this forward movement: by a sense of novelty, of accomplishment." The examples of enjoyment might be playing a close game of tennis or reading an inspiring book. "After an enjoyable event, we know that we have changed, that our self has grown: in some respect, we have become more complex as a result of it."

I had never thought about pleasure and enjoyment as being two different things. I always thought they were synonyms.  The idea is that we need both pleasure and enjoyment to achieve happiness. Pleasure is what provides homeostasis for us, while enjoyment challenges us and helps us grow. I think challenges are more gratifying then we realize.

I'm sure this post doesn't do the concept justice but can you see why it's important to be able to distinguish between pleasure and enjoyment and why we need both to achieve happiness? I usually experience pleasure in taking a leisurely walk or by simply laying on my back in the sunshine. True enjoyment for me, is often found in a competitive, intense game of volleyball! What activities provide pleasure and which provide enjoyment for you? Do you have any that have accomplished both pleasure and enjoyment?