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Musings Report #18 4-30-16 The Importance of Guilty Pleasures
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For those who are new to the Musings reports: they are basically a glimpse into my notebook, the unfiltered swamp where I organize future themes, sort through the dozens of stories submitted by readers, refine my own research and start connecting dots which appear later in the blog or in my books. As always, I hope the Musings spark new appraisals and insights. Thank you for supporting my work and for inviting me into your circle of correspondents.
Welcome to April's MUS (Margins of the Unfiltered Swamp)
The last Musings of the month is a free-form exploration of the fecund swamp that is the source of the blog, Musings and my books.
The Importance of Guilty Pleasures
I've been thinking about guilty pleasures recently, and pondering their importance and value.
Given my long list of guilty pleasures, it was a great relief to a hear an old friend who maintains a much more disciplined diet than I do list a few of his own guilty pleasures (not surprisingly, there was lots of overlap: ramen, manapua, etc.)
Guilty pleasures only function if they generate guilt and pleasure. This may seem obvious, but consider how much less pleasure there is in things you don't feel guilty about.
I'm also impressed with the range of things that can qualify as a guilty pleasure. If work is piled high on my desk, a mile walk around the neighborhood is a guilty pleasure, even though this same activity may be a semi-onerous chore of fitness to others.
Deprivation, scarcity, secrecy and The Forbidden inform our guilty pleasures: we crave what we're deprived of, by either circumstance or self-discipline; we crave what's scarce and rare; we crave what is shameful or frowned upon in public, and we are naturally drawn to whatever is forbidden.
Consider this link from a recent From Left Field: The Crisis Of Attention.
For some people, the distractions of Facebook and twitter are guilty pleasures. For others, escaping the distractions of the Internet, mobile phones, etc. is a guilty pleasure: we should answer those 20 emails and take those calls, but we just can't stand another moment at our desk. Escaping from the ceaseless press of work is a guilty pleasure.
Solitude in a world of constant marketing is a scarce luxury to many of us, while to others, the isolation of being home alone is a depressing burden they seek to lift with shopping, social media, etc.
Food is naturally a wellspring of guilty pleasures: sugar, salt and fat trigger our reward centers just like powerful drugs. My list of cravings include char siu bao (baked pork buns), chocolate glazed doughnuts, bahn mi, (Vietnamese style BBQ chicken sandwich), home-made brownies (store-bought ones are too soft), KitKat candy bars, IPA beers, a good Zinfandel red wine, backyard BBQs, brie cheese, and on and on.
Self-discipline and rewarding successful self-discipline with a guilty pleasure are like yin and yang: we need both to thrive. Deprivation with no reward and no satiation of guilty pleasure cravings inevitably fails to accomplish the original goal (losing weight, improving fitness, etc.).
But a life of indulgence with no self-discipline also leads to failure. The guilty pleasure acts as the reward and the relief valve for self-discipline, and in this role it plays a vital part of our health, creativity and our sense of accomplishment.
A fascinating article from Scientific American online (via Lew G.) highlights the many inputs necessary to fuel creativity. Self-discipline is not mentioned directly, but it plays a vital role if in no other way than self-discipline is needed to create an island of no distractions in which to concentrate: Creativity Is Much More Than 10,000 Hours of Deliberate Practice.
(My favorite traits of the 12 listed are Creative people often have messy processes and Creators rarely receive helpful feedback.)
In other words, a lack of discipline plays an essential role in creativity: just practicing a piece of music endlessly does not generate creativity. Indeed, it poisons the soil by limiting the noodling that's needed to develop creativity.
The things that foster creativity are guilty pleasures, or frowned upon as vices: messy desks, free time spent noodling around (very unproductive by conventional standards), pursuing a wide range of interests (only specialization pays) and ignoring feedback (we're supposed to respond positively to all feedback).
If there is no guilt, there is no secret pleasure. Guilty pleasures shouldn't hurt others or be self-destructive or aid self-sabotage. Rather, guilty pleasures are small indulgences that reward us, stimulate us, please us and if they create islands free of distraction where we can freely focus/concentrate or drift aimlessly, they aid our core creativity.
From Left Field
HYPER VISION: The world’s hottest startup isn’t located in Silicon Valley—it’s in suburban Florida.
Magic Leap’s mind-bending technology tells us about the future of virtual reality (VR) (via GFB)
Magic Leap Demos What Your Morning Routine Could Look Like (via GFB) -- ultimate distraction or useful tool? It's your call...
Space X documentary (36:54)(via Lew G.) -- impressive...
A Big (Apple) Passion Project: Illustrating New York City’s Subway Stations (3:04)(via GFB) -- what passion for a project looks like....
The Mirage of a Return to Manufacturing Greatness (via Joel M.)
Automating the Professions: Utopian Pipe Dream or Dystopian Nightmare? (via Lew G.)
Zenga Bros - Tall Bike Tour (10:48)(via GFB) -- fun!
London gets its first naked restaurant, waiting list already at 5,000 (via Lew G.)
Walk off the Earth + Myles Erlick & Isaac Lupien (Whippy Tube and Tap Dance Cover) (5:05) (via Lew G.) -- must see--surfboard as a drum, a superb performance...
Obamacare disaster will be Obama’s enduring domestic legacy -- if you're getting subsidized ACA, it's great, if you're footing the bill with soaring premiums, it's a disaster...
Bad drivers are a good indicator of a corrupt government -- fascinating....
Our charitable plutocracy (John S.-P.)
The Complicated Sisterhood of Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill -- long-form read of interest...
"Man is not who he thinks he is, he is what he hides." Andre Malraux
Thanks for reading--
charles |
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