Issue No.23 On Pleasure Activism

The organizing principle of the modern world is pain. Avoiding it, yes. But also trading in it, taking refuge in it, and using it to justify our actions.

We trade in pain when we use it to bargain for progress. We assume that the bigger the impact we want to have, the more dramatic the change, the more we have to suffer. Isn’t that how it works? Isn’t the depth of my sacrifice a measure of how much I care? The Creative Destruction newsletter explored how pain being used as the main organizing principle in our world shows itself in different aspects of our lives:

??Work: One might not really like their job but endure the suffering anyway to enjoy the weekends or accumulate wealth and status.

??Life Goals: The idea that one needs to grind, i.e. overcome a period of pain and suffering, to get to the next level, achieve one’s goals and be happy.

??Marketing: Leveraging pain points (i.e. suffering) by telling people that the pain will finally end if they buy this new thing, thereby convincing people that they aren’t enough as they are.

??Activism: The idea that we can only create change and build a better world if we sacrifice something, if we forego the pleasures of life.

But what it would it look like if we put our desires at the center of our politics?ciple

Pleasure Activism offers an alternative: that pleasure could be an organizing principle. Pleasure activism asserts that we all need and deserve pleasure and that our social structures must reflect this:

?It would mean embracing healing as the re-opening of the parts of ourselves that have closed.

? It would mean deciding that we are not going to spend our time doing things that don’t make us come alive.

? It would mean getting in touch with our desires, with our bodies.

? It would mean developing our capacity to be seen and to be wrong.

Are you ready to explore what happens when you increase your attention to pleasure and the space you give it in your life? You may be surprised at the joy that unfolds.

??Newsroom

• Pleasure Activism: What would it look like if we put our desires at the centre of our politics?
• The Power in Pleasure: Despite what capitalism has taught us, pleasure is neither a commodity nor a reward. It’s a foundational human need.
• Stop Being Productive: Love Instead. Or how to find work that we love.
• Pleasure as an Organizing Principle.
• Reflections on the impact of the '4-Hour Workweek' 15 years later. Or how to exit this system where almost everyone hates what they are doing 40 hours per week, 40 years of their lives.
• Devote Yourself to the Cause of Your Life , Your to-do list can wait.
• The Optimization Sinkhole and the disappointment that comes from an emphasis on productivity and optimization, instead of an emphasis on pleasure.
• Adrienne Maree Brown on Why Joy Is a Form of Resistance.

???Book of the week

How do we make social justice the most pleasurable human experience? How can we awaken within ourselves desires that make it impossible to settle for anything less than a fulfilling life? Adrienne maree brown finds the answer in something she calls “pleasure activism,” a politics of healing and happiness that explodes the dour myth that changing the world is just another form of work. Drawing on the black feminist tradition, she challenges us to rethink the ground rules of activism. Her mindset-altering essays are interwoven with conversations and insights from other feminist thinkers, including Audre Lorde, Joan Morgan, Cara Page, Sonya Renee Taylor, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Together they cover a wide array of subjects—from sex work to climate change, from race and gender to sex and drugs—building new narratives about how politics can feel good and how what feels good always has a complex politics of its own.

??Surprise of the week

???Video Of The Week

We must recognize that “pleasure is a measure of freedom,” that’s the first ambition writer, healer, and teacher adrienne maree brown has for her book and guide, “Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good.” In our movements and communities, we’re constantly trying to find ways to measure liberation and freedom, and love seems like as good a yardstick as any. What would it look like to love without fear?

??Comic of the week

??Podcast of the week

This week’s podcast with adrienne maree brown begins with the notion that all organizing is science fiction, and thus that social justice and science fiction are intricately linked imaginative acts, acts that have real effects on the world at large. brown looks at works by Le Guin that she considers foundational texts for activists and organizers, and discusses what it means to do the work of imagination, as well as the dangers of not doing that work, of living within a world imagined by others, people who might not fully imagine you. Many of Adrienne’s concepts, from ‘emergent strategy’ to ‘fractal responsibility,’ are linked to everything from Le Guin’s interest in anarchism to their shared interest in Taoism.

* Food for thought ??

• What does pleasure mean to me, and how do I experience joy in my life? How does the pursuit of pleasure align with my values and activism efforts?
• What self-care practices do I engage in, and how do they contribute to my well-being?
• Are there aspects of pleasure and joy that I feel uncomfortable discussing or embracing due to societal stigmas or taboos? How can I challenge and break down these stigmas to promote more open conversations about pleasure?
• How does embracing pleasure and joy empower me to be more effective and resilient?
• How do I balance the pursuit of pleasure and joy with the demands of current society? Are there adjustments I need to make to maintain a sustainable balance?
• What areas of pleasure activism do I want to explore or deepen my understanding of?

??Let’s work together!?

When you are ready, these are 3 ways I can support you:

• Join the you.thenticity community ?- dedicated to people who are interested in Training, Wellbeing, Coaching, or simply interested in discovering themselves more and growing.
• Book a free 1:1 discussion with me .
• Let me take care of your Training, Wellbeing or Coaching project.

See you again next Wednesday, with another round of resources on Training, Coaching & well-being.

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