Small Pleasures

by The School of Life, Alain de Botton (Editor)

Overview

"... A book reminding us of all the small moments we overlook when they happen."- Emma Gannon, Ctr Alt Delete podcast

52 overlooked small pleasures, from flirtation and figs to cyprus trees and the pleasant exhaustion that follows an especially productive day.

We exhaust ourselves and the planet in the search for very large pleasures, while all around us lies a wealth of small pleasures, which-if we only pay more attention-can bring us solace and joy on a daily basis. This is a guidebook to life's small pleasures: everything from the distinct delight of holding a child's hand to the joy of watching the evening sky. It's an intriguing, evocative collection that will heighten our senses and return us to the world with newfound excitement and enthusiasm.

• 52 SMALL PLEASURES that bring us joy and solace.
• REAL-WORD TAKEAWAYS to help us thrive in everyday life.
• A FRESH PERSPECTIVE on seeing life with enthusiasm and energy.
• A SERIES OF SHORT, DIGESTIBLE MEDITATIONS, designed to open and read at any page.
• PART OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE LIBRARY SERIES other titles include Calm, Relationships, and Great Thinkers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780993538735
Publisher:	The School of Life
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Series:	The School of Life Library
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

The School of Life is a global organization helping people lead more fulfilled lives. Through our range of books, gifts and stationery we aim to prompt more thoughtful natures and help everyone to find fulfillment.

The School of Life is a resource for exploring self-knowledge, relationships, work, socializing, finding calm, and enjoying culture through content, community, and conversation. You can find us online, in stores and in welcoming spaces around the world offering classes, events, and one-to-one therapy sessions.

The School of Life is a rapidly growing global brand, with over 7 million YouTube subscribers, 389,000 Facebook followers, 174,000 Instagram followers and 166,000 Twitter followers.

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. Their books share a coherent, curated message that speaks with one voice: calm, reassuring, and sane.

Read an Excerpt

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.

Table of Contents

PREFACE: What This Book Is For

1. The Fish Shop
2. Small Islands
3. Stars
4. Grandmothers
5. The Friend Who Listens
6. Take-Off
7. A Night Alone in a Hotel
8. Sunbathing
9. The Desert
10. Finding Your Feet Abroad
11. Being up Late at Night
12. The Charm of Cows
13. Up at Dawn
14. Staring out of the Window
15. A Hot Bath
16. Indulgent Pessimism
17. Self-Pity
18. Crushes
19. Keeping Your Clothes On
20. Kissing
21. Children's Drawings
22. Crimes in the Newspaper
23. Driving on the Motorway at Night
24. Sunday Mornings
25. A Beloved's Wrists
26. A Favourite Old Jumper
27. Holding Hands with a Small Child
28. Old Stone Walls
29. Realising You Both Dislike the Same Popular Person
30. Feeling at Home in the Sea
31. 'Bad' Magazines
32. The Song You Want to Listen to Again and Again
33. A Book that Understands You
34. Crying Cathartically over the Death of a Fictional Character
25. Pleasant Exhaustion after a Productive Day
36. Old Photos of One's Parents
37. Whispering in Bed in the Dark
38. Cypress Trees
39. News of a Scientific Discovery
40. Feeling Someone Else Is So Wrong
41. The Teasing of Old Friends
42. Getting Over a Row
43. Planning the Ideal Routine
44. Finally Gaining the Respect of a Previously Suspicious Colleague
45. 'Getting' a Great Work of Art for Yourself
46. Very Dark Jokes
47. Midnight Walks
48. Flirtation
49. The First Day of Feeling Well Again
50. Daisies
51. Figs
52. A List of Very Small Pleasures

EPILOGUE: The Ideology of Small Pleasures

Editorial Reviews

"... A book reminding us of all the small moments we overlook when they happen." – Emma Gannon, Ctr Alt Delete podcast

From the Publisher