The contemporary moment is out of whack. Never has everything felt so utterly chaotic across the board, and people are hankering for some quiet calm.
Chaos breeds more chaos. There is a common, knee-jerk response when things feel too speedy, like every thread flies in countless directions that overlap and intersect without any pattern. We get worked up. We join the rush, adding one more tangent to all the others.
But even amidst those frantic conditions, there are stolen moments when slowness prevails.
These small pleasures are quick and fly past if one isn't looking. Lucky for us, there are more than a few Redditors with their eyes and ears open.
They described their favorite simple pleasures in a recent thread on the site. Perhaps their examples will help us be a bit more mindful about our own delights throughout the day, and we'll have a glimpse of calm in all of this.
Ididntfollowthetrain asked, "What is your favourite simple pleasure in life?"
The Vow of Cleanliness
"Getting in bed with clean sheets after taking a shower." -- MartyVanB
"I always wash my sheets before I go on the road/vacation. That first night home in bed from travel, nothing like it." -- macmooie
"This. And also clean the house. Kids if you're sitting in the car waiting for mom and dad before a road trip... they are inside cleaning." -- WiseReflection5
Comfortably Insulated
"Sitting on the patio during a rainstorm. Even the moments before the storm comes, you can smell the petrichor and everything calms down. Monsoon season can bring some crazy thunder, it's always been a very relaxing experience." -- titofetyukov
"I lived in Iowa for a long time, (for non-midwesterners, it's windy, cloudy, thunderstorm and tornado-prone all spring, especially March and April) and whenever there was a big thunderstorm or wall cloud (cloud that means a possible tornado, maybe, probably not) we would set up lawn chairs in the garage and watch it roll in."
'If it rained hard enough we would go out and play in it. It's an amazing mix of thrilling and calming." -- FluffyClowd
Drawn to the Familiar
"Re-reading a favorite book. I find most well-written books are even better if you already know the ending." -- survivalothefittest
"I have never in my life re-read a book - I always imagine it won't be as good as the first time. But then again I really don't remember much, so I guess my logic is flawed. Must try it some day." -- BasketOfWhatever
"G2g, I have to re-read the Harry Potter series for the 80th time." -- calebpro8
Growing Longer
"Stretching: simply hanging from an overhead bar, you can target and stretch every muscle in your back, when you hit those knots, the feeling is orgasmic." -- macmooie
"A good stretch. Just standing up on my toes, arms out... ahh. I legit feel better just thinking about it." -- ZoomJet
"As soon as I read this I had to get up and stretch." -- Red_Banded
Warm Things
"In January, my wife ran a towel in the dryer for a few minutes and had it ready for me when I was done showering." -- jeff_the_nurse
"Heated towel racks!" -- rocknroyce
"A heated pillow under my feet." -- Croesus90
Best Meal of the Day
"First sip of coffee in the morning and smoking the first cigarette in silence." -- PsychologicalPrice98
"^ This! Except I do it with an energy drink, on my balcony in just my boxers. But yes, having that first jolt of caffeine with a smoke or two is an amazing feeling." -- BigBearSD
Crispy Stuff
"Going out of my way to step on a particularly crunchy looking leaf and getting a super nice crunch out of it." -- HSingh95
"The cold side of the pillow" -- Badger_Wadger_420
"A crisp high-five." -- WatchTheBoom
"Taking deep breaths of cold air." -- Kazutothompson
Quite, Nurturing, and Dusty
"Going to a library and just spending an hour in the stacks. Picking out a pile of books and being able to try new things without incurring any cost. Being able to sit and read without anyone hassling me to buy anything."
"Libraries are my happy place."
-- Portarossa
Surveying the Kingdom
"Mow the lawn and work in the yard all day on a Saturday. After about five hours you get done. Go inside. Take a long a** cold shower. Get out. Put on some shorts and a t-shirt. Grab a beer and a cigarette and walk around the yard inspecting the work I did."
"I no longer cut my own yard or smoke cigarettes but man that was an awesome feeling."
-- MartyVanB
Exciting Conditions, Once a Month
"Clear night sky, full moon. I open all my drapes and turn off all electric devices flooding my room with only moon light. Once your eyes acclimate, you'll experience your space is way you've never seen before."
-- macmooie
Ahhhhhhh
"Drinking cold water after being out under the sun." -- sharpie_head
"When your esophagus is dry, and you can feel the water moistening it after the first sip." -- densetsu23
"That feeling when you're hot and thirsty and you can feel the cold water going all the way down to your stomach. It's wonderful." -- Troutmandoo
Simple Connection
"I just love spending time with the people that love and appreciate me."
"Spending time with people that only criticize or take me for granted make me realize the people who care, really actually care."
-- Icehawksfh
Paradigm Shift
"Finding a new song you love for the first time."
" 'What's this? Oh my god, I have to listen to this constantly and share with everyone I know. How did I not know about it's existence until now?!?' "
Warm Splats
"Peeing off a cliff so high you don't hear your pee hit the ground." -- Imabearrr3
"Please check if it is a rock climbing area first!! No golden showers preferred while rock climbing, please and thank you." -- sadmangosteen
"Do not try as woman." -- IIRedZeroII
High Up Things
"Looking up. Clouds & trees mostly. Stars, too. Some birds." -- Ghitit
"Those damn birds." -- JadedEdge7
A Wonderful Start
"My ex would wake up first for work, make herself breakfast, and head out he door. I'd wake up an hour later and there would always be an extra plate of breakfast (eggs, sausage, potatoes) waiting for me in the microwave."
-- dj_lambylamb
The Great Purge
Taking a sh**, now hear me out, imagine you've been at work, your all tense, customers sucked dick like always, you come home sit down for a minute then walk into your bathroom pull down your pants plop onto the toilet then just let all your trouble out, blasting the toilet with all your built up hideous emotion."
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Redditor ChrisVIII wanted to discuss the best ways to make living better, in the most simple of ways.
They asked:
"What improved your quality of life so much, you wish you did it sooner?"
Pay attention in school.
Don't drink and drive.
Two very small and life altering decisions I wish I could've done better.
Walk Away
"Walking. After years of trying to run, I simply started walking. 5-7 miles a day in good weather. It is literally life changing in terms of mental and physical health." ~ Merlin560
GiphyAdopt...
"Adopted my block. (adoptoneblock.org) Instead of being sad about trash everywhere, I go out a couple times a week with a grabber and a bucket and just clean it up. Fresh air, a chance to connect with neighbors in a positive way, eyes on the street, neighborhood looks nicer and feels safer, zero downside."
"Adoptoneblock might only be in Oregon, but a picker is like 20 bucks for a good one (I recommend Arcmate brand; they're metal inside and last forever) and 5-gallon buckets are everywhere. Even if you only do the block around your house, it makes a huge difference. Imagine if every block got adopted." ~ binkkit
"helping people out"
"I stopped saying yes to things I didn't want to do." ~ VinnyRuns
"Holy sh*t me too! I used to do hair and eventually once I was working for myself I would say yes to literally everything all the time. Including 'helping people out' and stuff like that. I loved making people happy but I eventually got more and more miserable and ended up with a pretty heavy drug addiction."
"A bunch of years later and some really helpful therapy and I work a job that I actually love and no longer do hair for anyone other than my girlfriend or very close family. Only took 16 years of doing something I didn't really love to finally break and make the changes I needed to get what I want out of life." ~ arcaneresistance
Sail Away
"Taking a yearly vacation. My family never traveled growing up so I didn't know what I was missing out on but I have a good paying job with time off benefits and my wife and I have been taking a vacation every year since we got married, even if it's just something simple the time away from the usual day-to-day does wonders." ~ brshimp
Push No
"Turning off all push notifications except for essentials like financial apps or important contacts." ~ cyan_reynolds
GiphyI'm learning so much already.
And HOW do I turn off those notifications?
Swallow
"Swallowed my pride and got a blue collar job. For almost 20 years I followed my mother's advice, work inside so it's warm when it's cold outside and cool when it's warm outside. Now I deliver packages outside and the weather doesn't bother me. I have no boss on my shoulder and I can do my job however I want." ~ veldrinshade
Restful Nights
"CPAP machine. If you snore at all, you owe it to yourself to get a sleep study and see what is going on. It literally changed my life getting one. I went from constant caffeine throughout the day just to function to feeling rested for the first time in years. Especially if you are overweight like I am, your heart is stopping multiple times an hour as you struggle to breathe while snoring."
"It sucks getting used to the machine (especially if you have to wear the full face mask), but man that first night of actual deep sleep will be life changing. I cannot recommend it enough and I have convinced at least 5 people that I know to get one and they all say the same thing, should have done it years ago." ~ bonez59054
The Top View
"Quit my job and moved to the mountains. I realized I cared more about what I did with my free time than whatever work I did, so I got a job where my SO and I wanted to live. We live in a cute mountain town now and every day watching the sunrise at home gives me 1000% more happiness than anything ever in Illinois." ~ starciv14
Water and bedding are essentials to happy living.
Don't be afraid, you can always start doing better now.
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