Small Pleasures: What makes life truly valuable (The School of Life) - Hardcover

The School Of Life

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0993538738 ISBN 13: 9780993538735

Verlag: The School of Life Press, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

So often, we exhaust ourselves and the planet in a search for very large pleasures - while all around us lies a wealth of small pleasures, which - if only we paid more attention - could daily bring us solace and joy at little cost and effort.

But we need some encouragement to focus our gaze. This is a book to guide us to the best of life's small pleasures: everything from the distinctive delight of holding a child's hand to the enjoyment of disagreeing with someone, to the joy of the evening sky.

An intriguing, evocative mix of small pleasures that will heighten our senses and return us to the world with new-found excitement and enthusiasm.

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The School of Life is a global organisation helping people to lead more fulfilled lives. We do this via our articles, books, app, films, therapeutic services and corporate offering.

 

The School of Life Press brings together the thinking and ideas of the School of Life creative team under the direction of series editor, Alain de Botton. Our range of books and products explore essential topics in psychological and emotional life, including relationships, parenting, friendship, careers and fulfilment.

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So often, we exhaust ourselves and the planet in a search for very large pleasures - while all around us lies a wealth of small pleasures, which - if only we paid more attention - could daily bring us solace and joy at little cost and effort. But we need some encouragement to focus our gaze. This is a book to guide us to the best of life's small pleasures: everything from the distinctive delight of holding a child's hand to the enjoyment of disagreeing with someone to the joy of the evening sky; an intriguing, evocative mix of small pleasures that will heighten our senses and return us to the world with new-found excitement and enthusiasm.

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14. Staring out of the Window

We tend to reproach ourselves for staring out of the window. We are supposed to be working, or studying, or ticking off things on our to-do list. It can seem almost the definition of wasted time. It seems to produce nothing, to serve no purpose. We equate it with boredom, distraction, futility. The act of cupping our chin in our hands near a pane of glass and letting out eyes drift in the middle distance does not normally enjoy high prestige. We don't go around saying: 'I had a great day: the high point was staring out of the window.' But maybe in a better society that's just the sort of thing people would say to one another.

The point of staring out of a window is, paradoxically, not to find out what is going on outside. It is, rather, an exercise in discovering the contents of our own minds. It's easy to imagine we know what we think, what we feel and what's going on in our heads. But we rarely do entirely. There's a huge amount of what makes us who we are that circulates unexplored and unused. Its potential lies untapped. It is shy and doesn't emerge under the pressure of direct questioning. If we do it right, staring out of the window offers a way for us to listen out for the quieter suggestions and perspectives of our deeper selves.

Plato suggested a metaphor for the mind: our ideas are like birds fluttering around in the aviary of our brains. But in order for the birds to settle, Plato understood that we needed periods of purpose-free calm. Staring out of the window offers such an opportunity. We see the world going on: a patch of weeds is holding its own against the wind; a grey tower block looms through the drizzle. But we don't need to respond; we have no overarching intentions, and so the more tentative parts of ourselves have a chance to be heard, like the sound of church bells in the city once the traffic has died down at night.

The potential of daydreaming isn't recognised by societies obsessed with productivity. But some of our greatest insights come when we stop trying to be purposeful and instead respect the creative potential of reverie. Window daydreaming is a little strategic rebellion against the excessive demands of immediate (but ultimately insignificant) pressures - in favour of the diffuse, but very serious, search for the wisdom of the unexplored deep self.

Some pleasures - like that of looking out of a window and wondering about life - are so quiet that we easily miss them. We don't quite detect them, even though they are really there - as one may fail to catch a whispered endearment in a noisy bar. But once properly alerted we can better direct our attention to something that turns out to be tender and lovely. Small pleasures are often of this kind. It is the task of culture to draw them to our notice, so that they can take up a larger, beneficial place in our lives.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: The School of Life Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0993538738
• ISBN 13: 9780993538735
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 248
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar