philosophyofenjoyment

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What's It All About?

People are like Peeps: crusty on the outside and gooey on the inside. Does it ever feel to you like the world is falling apart? The list of issues caused by human activity is horrendous, isn’t it? We’ve got biodiversity loss, environmental disaster, potential nuclear holocaust, destructive artificial intelligence and societal collapse, just to name a few (List of Global Issues). Given the…

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A perspective to enjoy

Everyone has a perspective, a “point of view,” or POV, if you will. We all have a vantage point from which we perceive the world around us with our senses and, moreover, everyone has their own way of thinking and feeling about what they are perceiving with those senses. Thinking and feeling are interconnected. Thinking and feeling certain ways can cause a person to say certain things and behave…

[philosophyofenjoyment]

Enjoy Love, Understanding, and Dancing

Source: Will Clickbait ruin Quora someday? Here at a Philosophy of Enjoyment there is no clickbait and shrill exclamation points are strictly avoided. Yes! Here there are no broad claims made to sell you something and no “100% Guaranteed If Not Totally Satisfied!” With a Philosophy of Enjoyment, there are no phony directives. There is no lack of logic and no lame clichés to disenchant you.…

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Self-transformation for Transcendence and Enjoyment

Photo: Jacek Stankiewicz, Kraków, Poland. The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023. So, here you are. How’d that happen? Did a little bird send you? A Philosophy of Enjoyment? You’re kidding, right? Sounds like an excuse to misbehave (think salacious and audacious), but then, maybe you are depressed or anxious or flummoxed by existence or know someone who is, so you did a Google search…

[philosophyofenjoyment]

Looking at trees

Enjoy wisely.

Most people don’t spend much time looking at trees. It’s not exactly an exciting activity. Computer screens are more entertaining. Trees don’t normally go anywhere or do anything. They sway sometimes. Depending on the wind. “The world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air.” – Treebeard (Tolkien). Most people don’t put looking at trees on their…

[philosophyofenjoyment]

It's been a while: Time to enjoy

It's been a while. I hope you enjoy it!

“A mixture of trees purifies urban air best” (source). Let’s get right to it. Cue music (something gentle): Still Corners “The Trip“. In this blog, a mixture of philosophies has been presented. Rather than one way of thinking, an eclectic approach has been taken. A philosophy of enjoyment mixes philosophies and accepts wise insights from anywhere and everywhere, including: 1) Epicureanism:…

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The Tricky Brain and Everyone's Enjoyment

The Tricky Brain and Everyone’s Enjoyment

Peaceful Autumn Days uploaded by lionheart Humans have big brains. That’s what we’re told. For years scientists have argued, “our brains have more neurons and expend more energy than would be expected for our size, and our cerebral cortex, which is responsible for higher cognition, is disproportionately large” (source: Scientific American). If humans have big brains (note: Dolphins’ brains are…

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Enjoy Being Awesome

“Who can say where the road goes? where the day flows? only time” (Enya). Today we ask ourselves, “Who am I?” It’s a straight forward question with obvious answers: I am a human, I have a name, a family history, I think and do such-and-such and want this-and-that. With further examination, however, from a scientific, psychological and philosophical perspective, you might arrive at something…

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Enjoy Being Wise and Save the World at the Same Time

Enjoy Being Wise and Save the World at the Same Time

“You think that I don’t even mean a single word I say. It’s only words, and words are all I have to take your heart away” – The Bee Gees, “Words” (1968). As has been said before, “the world is a mess and getting messier still” (To think or not: Zen, Tolstoy, Depression and Enjoyment). The number of problems we face is astounding (UN Global Issues). It’s like the world is going to hell in a…

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Utopia, Hedonia, Eudomania, Ataraxia (Oh Yeah)

Utopia, Hedonia, Eudomania, Ataraxia (Oh Yeah)

Thomas More’s Utopia (1518). Photograph: The Granger Collection, New York The word “utopia” is a pun on the Greek ou-topos meaning ‘no place‘ and eu-topos meaning ‘good place‘ (British Library). Thomas More (1478 – 1535) came up with it for his book, Utopia, which is about an island uncorrupted by greed that has qualities of perfection (read: Utopia). More was a lawyer, judge and Catholic who…

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Thinking, Being and Plucking

Thinking, Being and Plucking

Now we look at three philosophies inspired by death and suffering. Two came from poets—carpe diem and To be or not to be—and one came from a beggar—Life is suffering—who started a religion. After looking at all three, we’ll think about thinking and end by enjoying. We begin with carpe diem. Most people have heard of carpe diem. Robin Williams taught us all about it in Dead Poet’s…

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Where Happiness Hides

“Son of Man” (1964) by René Magritte (1898-1967) In René Magritte’s painting “Son of Man” we see a man in an overcoat and bowler hat in front of a low wall with sea and cloudy sky behind and a green apple in front of the man’s face. Why is the apple there? Is the man hiding? What does it mean? Cue music: “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” Eurythmics (1983) The painting is open to…

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A Philosophy of Life (to enjoy)

A Philosophy of Life (to enjoy)

Philosophy is all around us. It’s how people think. It’s even on billboards.

In the Way to Wisdom (1950), psychiatrist (and philosopher) Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) wrote, “the essence of philosophy is not the possession of truth but the search for truth… Philosophy means to be on the way” (p. 11).

“…the question,” writes Jaspers, “is not whether a philosophy is conscious or not, whether it…

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Happiness or Wisdom? Enjoy A Clearer Picture

Happiness or Wisdom? Enjoy A Clearer Picture

In this time of pandemic, amidst threats of death and illness, social distancing might just be the ticket to give us time for contemplation. We begin by looking at our self (which may or may not be singular) and then we look at the question: happiness or wisdom?

Like a Polaroid picture that develops in front of your eyes, from whiteness into shapes that become more visible, so too do ideas mix…

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To think or not: Zen, Tolstoy, Depression and Enjoyment

To think or not: Zen, Tolstoy, Depression and Enjoyment

In this world that is sometimes nice, sometimes not, and sometimes blows up in your face, you often meet people who don’t enjoy life.

You can generally tell if someone is not enjoying by their crying, taciturn nature (as in, uncommunicative) or apathetic attitude (as in, nothing  matters), but not always.

Some people who repeatedly say, “I feel depressed” (not clinically, but sadnonetheless)…

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Breathe in the air (and enjoy)

Breathe in the air (and enjoy)

“Long you live and high you fly Smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry And all you touch and all you see Is all your life will ever be” (Pink Floyd, “Breathe”, 1973)

Contrary to popular belief (and advertisers everywhere), people don’t need a product, service or lifestyle to enjoy life.

A moment of peace in a park or beside a drainage ditch with a Great Blue Heron can stop a busy brain from…

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Facing A Pine-scented Breeze

Facing A Pine-scented Breeze

“Stop every now and then. Just stop and enjoy. Take a deep breath. Relax…” (source).

And if you asked, “In two words or less, what is a philosophy of enjoyment?”

Answer: ‘Live well,’ ‘enjoy life,’ or simply, ‘enjoy.’ 

Enjoy (v.):

“If you enjoy something, you find pleasure and satisfaction in doing it or experiencing it (see also: And the Waiter said, “Enjoy”).

If you enjoy yourself, you do…