i never really thought about the difference between pleasure and joy till i read this beautiful essay by zadie smith.
favorite passages:
on pleasure:
"All day long I can look forward to a popsicle. The persistent anxiety that fills the rest of my life is calmed for as long as I have the flavor of something good in my mouth. And though it’s true that when the flavor is finished the anxiety returns, we do not have so many reliable sources of pleasure in this life as to turn our nose up at one that is so readily available, especially here in America"
I feel this exact way, just not about popsicles, more about avocados, cherries or iced coffee.
favorite passages:
on pleasure:
"All day long I can look forward to a popsicle. The persistent anxiety that fills the rest of my life is calmed for as long as I have the flavor of something good in my mouth. And though it’s true that when the flavor is finished the anxiety returns, we do not have so many reliable sources of pleasure in this life as to turn our nose up at one that is so readily available, especially here in America"
I feel this exact way, just not about popsicles, more about avocados, cherries or iced coffee.
on joy:
"Occasionally the child, too, is a pleasure, though mostly she is a joy, which means in fact she gives us not much pleasure at all, but rather that strange admixture of terror, pain, and delight that I have come to recognize as joy, and now must find some way to live with daily."
this sentence really sticks to my heart.
atty gives me so much joy, which of course, scares me so.
i'm so proud to be his mama.
article found via orangette.
photo by my mama.
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