Then I realised that it was because everyone had had polio, so the disability factor' that must be dealt with in other social encounters did not exist. One of my new pleasures, my commonplace books, began about seven years ago, almost by accident. One day I was given an art diary that seemed too beautiful to be used for scribbles about my daily appointments. Then I realised it was just the place for the quotations that I like to keep. The contents consist of writings that speak to my condition.
Pleasures can slip by without our extracting much of their joy.
At the end of each day, I review the day's happenings and single out those personal activities that were enjoyable. Recalling a phone call from a friend and the enjoyment of reading a thriller reminds me that life can still be good. According to neuroscientist Candace Pert, Our new understanding of neuropeptides and receptors has enabled us to see more of what is going on in conditions of stress. When stress prevents the molecules of emotion from flowing freely where needed, the largely autonomic processes that are regulated by peptide flow, such as breathing, blood flow, immunity, digestion, and elimination collapse down to a few simple feedback loops and upset the normal healing response. Experiencing pleasure or having fun is the cheapest, easiest, and most effective way I know to instantly reduce stress and rejuvenate mind, body, and spirit it gets our emotions flowing, and our emotions are what connect us, give us a sense of unity, a feeling that we are part of something greater than our small and separate egos, says Pert 7 .