Kris puts together a mandala puzzle

It’s a Friday night, you’ve just come home from a full day of work and you’re ready to unwind for the weekend. You’ve got several options for how you could spend this evening: turn on the tv, order delivery for dinner, tap open a favorite app on your phone. All of these options would provide you with a state of pleasure, according to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. You have several other options available to you: call a friend and engage in a thought provoking conversation, prepare yourself a delicious meal at home, sit down to create some art. These activities would all pull you into what Csikszentmihalyi calls a state of enjoyment.

What do we mean by “pleasure?”

According to Csikszentmihalyi, pleasure is a feeling of contentment we experience when we believe our biological needs are being met within the context of our societal expectations. Eating food gives us pleasure in that we are no longer in threat of hunger and passive rest gives us pleasure as it dulls the overstimulation of our minds. While Csikszentmihalyi recognizes that pleasure is an important component of the quality of life, he says that it cannot bring happiness by itself. We may feel we are happy or content during a pleasurable activity but once it has ended, we are left wanting for more.

How is “enjoyment” different?

It is through mastering the ability to cultivate enjoyment in our everyday lives that we may find longer lasting happiness. Enjoyment comes when we surpass simply meeting a need and move into something unexpected. It is characterized by forward movement, novelty, and accomplishment. It occurs when we stretch our abilities and feel that we have grown as a result. These experiences bring us into a total involvement with our life. They create what Csikszentmihalyi calls optimal experience, or Flow. These experiences stay with us in a way that pleasure does not.

Examples of Enjoyment-Based Activities:

Chris goes skiing

Movement:

  • Playing a game or sport with someone who pushes us to be better with their own matched skill (not someone who is significantly better or worse than us)
  • Challenging ourselves alone in activity (running a new distance or speed)
  • Dancing to a new genre of music or working to master a new move

Intellect:

  • Reading a book that teaches us something new
  • Engaging in contemplative thought alone or in conversation to the extent that we learn something about ourselves and/or how we may view the world

    A collage made by Dana, titled “Wane”

Creativity:

  • Creating art (drawing, writing poetry, photography)
  • Experimenting with a new recipe
  • Playing music or engaging in deep listening to music

Food, sleep, and rest all serve an important role in our lives. Sometimes this will be exactly what we need at the end of our week. This Friday, we invite you to check in with yourself and consider, “do I need pleasure or do I need enjoyment?”

Warmly,

Hayli Nemeth (She/Her)
Marketing Director