{"id":1040,"date":"2009-05-17T13:58:50","date_gmt":"2009-05-17T17:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/?p=1040"},"modified":"2009-05-17T23:01:11","modified_gmt":"2009-05-18T03:01:11","slug":"the-pursuit-of-pleasure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/the-pursuit-of-pleasure\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pursuit Of Pleasure"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few days ago, my Dad (a retired history professor and current archivist and heritage expert) emailed me an article called “A Footprint of Delight<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n

At first I was confused as to why; his explanation was:<\/p>\n

“I thought this might be of interest. It came to me in connection with a conference… We are trying to tie the idea of heritage and culture as components in city planning, and in the making of creative communities… However, I thought you would see much more in it, and some of the references are in the spirit of what you and Barry do.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hmm… he had my interest and I started reading.<\/p>\n

At first, it seemed to be about environmental sustainability.\u00a0 Certainly a past interest of mine, but not really in the spirit of what Barry and I do.<\/p>\n

After all, when we’re talking about the environment from a spiritual stance, we have to ask ourselves one huge paradoxical question…<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

And that question is:<\/p>\n

If we indeed live in an abundant Universe… how can we have a scarcity of natural resources that need to be preserved?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That is a question that has popped into my mind again and again over the past few years.<\/p>\n

Because we hear that the rain forests need protecting… and yet, where’s the abundance in that? We hear that animal species are becoming extinct (or at least endangered)… but where’s the abundance in that?<\/p>\n

At least when we hear that the polar ice caps are melting, that shows an abundance of water, if nothing else… but we still get told that fresh water supplies are dwindling.<\/p>\n

Again, where’s the abundance in that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Are we just being told that the environment is in trouble, because it keeps people small and in their place — the same reason there’s always some illusive “enemy” overseas that Americans are supposed to be<\/em> fearful of?<\/p>\n

Maybe someday we’ll find an astute mentor to answer these puzzling questions… someone who knows about biology and world politics as much as physics (and metaphysics).\u00a0 Maybe we even know who that person might be… but we’re not going to tell you yet.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I still like to recycle, and don’t let the rest consume my energy.<\/p>\n

Why recycle?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because from an entrepreneurial stance, it makes sense to help manufacturers fulfill their supply-and-demand chain without having to start from scratch.<\/p>\n

And from an environmental stance, I’d rather see land used for better things than piles of garbage.\u00a0 Not because of scarcity, but because of inspiration.<\/p>\n

See, the article my Dad sent me was really about how it’s possible to “plan for happiness” in urban development.<\/p>\n

It’s about the ability to create “delightful places” that people are happy to be in.<\/p>\n

Hey, the concept of going to a “happy place” is almost clich\u00e9 in psychology, and even spirituality… but you don’t usually hear about trying to create those happy places for all to enjoy in the real world.<\/p>\n

But as one survey responded commented, a real-world special place can have a lasting impact:<\/p>\n

\u201cAn ability to return to this place in one\u2019s mind and find an inner peace, even when one is many, many miles away.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another added that this would be:<\/p>\n

\u201cA place that makes you feel energized, calm, in tune with life and people.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And they weren’t just whistling Dixie.\u00a0 Apparently scientific studies have been done recently on psychological responses that are the opposite of the “fight or flight” syndrome, where the body produces adrenaline; these opposite responses are when the body produces oxytocin, a hormone that produces harmony.<\/p>\n

And what did they find?<\/p>\n

“Recent studies indicate that we are biologically wired to experience calm and connection, the body\u2019s natural state for healing.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cool!<\/p>\n

Oxytocin is released, by the way, when we get a massage, or acupuncture, make love, meditate, exercise, spend time with people we like, or just plain have fun.<\/p>\n

So it’s good for you to get out and play, let loose, and do something for yourself.<\/p>\n

But of course, life needs to be in balance; we couldn’t operate entirely in that “oxytocin-state” (we’d never get anything done) any more than we could in “adrenaline-state” (we’d be constantly stressed out).<\/p>\n

And let’s be clear about something… you can’t really design a place that “makes people happy”, no matter how calm-inducing it might be.<\/p>\n

Yes, Barry and I like to travel.\u00a0 We’re inspired by beautiful scenery, the wonders of nature, different locales and cultures, and the ability to experience life and the world around us.\u00a0 When Konan the little “Babe-arian” is older, we plan to take him traveling too.<\/p>\n

But traveling itself can’t “make” you happy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

People who were quoted in the article are looking for ways to walk and bike more, not just to cut down on fuel consumption — and not just to get healthier — but because they love connecting with nature.<\/p>\n

But connecting with nature can’t “make” you happy.<\/p>\n

See, happiness comes from within; pleasure is found externally.<\/p>\n

So really, we can’t design or find “happy places” in the world, we can only design or find “pleasure places” (or, as the article calls them, “delightful places”).<\/p>\n

It’s totally up to us if we choose to be happy as we experience that place.<\/p>\n

The distinction between pleasure and happiness was made beautifully by Robin Sharma<\/a> (#1 international best-selling author of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari<\/em> and The Greatness Guide<\/em>) when I interviewed him awhile back.<\/p>\n

Robin is a favorite author of Jon Bon Jovi, Ricky Martin, former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, and other celebrities and public figures, because of his understated realness… and while he claims he’s not a “guru”, he’s definitely someone that a lot of people look to for inspiration, motivation and guidance.<\/p>\n

The following clip from that interview also explains some reasons why, as long as we’re here, life is going to be filled with ups and downs (another reason, again, goes back to that very need of everything in life, and the Universe, to be in balance):<\/p>\n[audio:http:\/\/lwlblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/RobinSharma-clip-pleasure.mp3]\n

You can get the entire interview on CD for a very sweet price here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

P.S. By the way, do you still have a J-O-B?<\/span><\/strong>
\nClick here if you want to live, travel and work from anywhere, while leaving the painfully boring rat race behind…<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Your Partner in the Quest For
\nLiving a Life Without Limits<\/em>,<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few days ago, my Dad (a retired history professor and current archivist and heritage expert) emailed me an article called “A Footprint of Delight“. At first I was confused as to why; his explanation was: “I thought this might be of interest. It came to me in connection with a conference… We are trying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,81],"tags":[327,329,328,330],"class_list":["post-1040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brain-science","category-health-wellness","tag-environment","tag-happiness","tag-pleasure","tag-robin-sharma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1040"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1047,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040\/revisions\/1047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwlworldwide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}