Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Describe Their Favorite Simple Pleasure In Life

Make us preferred on Google

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?!?' "

-- whereegosdare84

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."

-- deathwingirish

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Florence Pugh; sign for Cornell University; Josh Gad
Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Netflix; Matt Burkhartt/Getty Images; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Disney

Florence Pugh And Josh Gad Lead Celebrity Outrage After Cornell Frat Members Assigned Essays As Punishment For Sexual Assault

About a week ago, the story of the "Cornell 7" allegations broke publicly when a civil lawsuit was filed by a former Cornell University student known only as Jane Doe. The lawsuit detailed an October 2024 sexual assault at the Chi Phi fraternity house and Cornell University's handling of the assault after it was reported to school officials.

The public backlash against the seven rapists and four university officials named in the suit, as well as Cornell University, the Ivy League, and fraternities as a whole has been swift. Many people have shared their own experiences with institutions of higher learning and the mishandling of sexual assaults.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Luanne James
WKRN News 2/YouTube

Heroic Tennessee Librarian Sues After Being Fired For Refusing To Hide LGBTQ+ Books From Kids

Luanne James, the former library director of Tennessee's Rutherford County, has filed a lawsuit against the county's library board after she was terminated for refusing to move LGBTQ+ books from the children's section to the adult section.

The board’s decision to move the roughly 100 children’s books to the adult section followed a statewide “age-appropriateness review” ordered the previous year by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, a Republican.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images

Trump Hit With Blistering Factcheck After Making Patently False Claim About Prices Going 'Way Down'

President Donald Trump was swiftly fact-checked by CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale after he claimed to members of the press that "almost every price has come way down" following Joe Biden's presidency.

Earlier in the day, Trump bragged to reporters that the United States has the "best poverty," sparking immediate criticism. He continued to lie later, even as inflation remains above the level recorded when Biden left office, economic growth has slowed, and the cost of filling a gas tank has surged roughly 50% since the war against Iran began.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump in campaign ad
U.S. Government

Trump's Latest Government-Funded Campaign Ad Just Aired On National TV—And Critics Are Crying Foul

President Donald Trump and the White House are facing criticism after Fox aired a new taxpayer-funded campaign ad that was "paid for by the U.S. government" several times over the weekend.

The black-and-white ad uses slowed footage of Trump walking through a hallway, accompanied by his voiceover pledging that "this is the final battle." It ran during at least two of Fox’s Sunday NFL broadcasts, appearing during the Washington Commanders-Seattle Seahawks game and the Carolina Panthers-Cleveland Browns matchup, as well as on Fox News.

Keep ReadingShow less
Paulina Porizkova speaks candidly about aging and the expectations placed on women as they grow older.
@paulinaporizkov/Instagram

Paulina Porizkova Speaks Out About How Women Are 'Expected To Go Silent' As They Get Older In Powerful Video

Paulina Porizkova knows what it’s like to have all eyes on her. The supermodel rose to fame in the 1980s, but at 61, she’s speaking candidly about what happens when society stops looking at women the same way.

The Czech-born model became a fixture in fashion and beauty, from back-to-back Sports Illustrated Swimsuit covers in 1984 and 1985 and a longtime partnership with Estée Lauder to a stint behind the judges’ table on America’s Next Top Model.

Keep ReadingShow less