My dearest crumpet,

Before every Pleasure Challenge I wonder if I need to do a rebrand, because “pleasure” is such a loaded word and people are bound to misunderstand.
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(truly, this happens pretty much every time)

You see, the Great Pleasure Challenge is thusly named because I’m a literal biscuit and because asking “is this in my pleasure” and then proceeding (or not, depending on your answer) is what actually happens. You see, the Pleasure Challenge isn’t about having more pleasure in your life (though you inevitably do). It’s actually about checking in with yourself to see if how you’re living, what you’re choosing, and what you’re doing are things you actually fucking want to do.
​And then magically, everything falls into its right place.

Ta-daaaaaaa!

Now there are some very specific reasons I use the word “pleasure” as opposed to anything else. Pleasure - as I define it - is the felt sense of contentment, ease, satisfaction, joy etc.

Because it is a “felt sense” and happens on a body-level, pleasure serves as a useful tool to get out of our heads and out of our idea of what we should like or want for ourselves and others. And instead it gets us - and very quickly, mind you - into our authentic response and our true feelings.

The spot where people get tripped up the most in the Challenge is in assuming they know what they like, want and need, and not bothering to check with what their body is telling them that they like, want or need in the present moment.
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Our brains are terribly efficient machines, they don’t like doing unnecessary work. Brains are big fans of ticking boxes and moving on, quickly, never bothering to revisit any list twice. Which is terribly efficient for all kinds of things but it’s also what is responsible for every kind of prejudice, and racism, as well as most of the suffering that exists in this world. And it’s also utterly lacking in curiosity.

So our brains can’t be trusted with curiosity. And our brains can’t be trusted to meet our needs for nurturing and nourishment, kindness, or emotional fulfillment. Our brains can’t be counted on to create living, breathing boundaries that are appropriate for what’s actually happening as opposed to how they think things should happen.

We have to bypass the noggin, and tapping into that felt-sense of softness, that deep well of inner stillness and peace and that humming “yessss” is the best way I know of doing that.

But if “pleasure” doesn’t really do it for you, fill in the name with these possible alternatives:

• The Internal Harmony Challenge
• The Authenticity Challenge
• The Taking Your Power Back Challenge
• The Following What Feels Alive Challenge
• The Obligation Detox
• The Laundry-Shall-Wait-Until-I-Feel-Like-It-And-I-Will-Surprise-Myself-By-Eventually-Really-Fucking-Feeling-Like-It Challenge
• The Don’t Wanna Challenge
• The Can’t Make Me Challenge
• I Refuse To Let The World And Its Demands Grind Me Into Dust Challenge
• The Joy Endeavor (personally this sounds unhinged and unrealistic. We’re not going for just feeling good all the time and grinning like a madman)
• The Kindly-Fuck-Off Challenge
• The Alignment Challenge
• The Rubix Cube (copywrite infringement with this one for sure)
• The Step, Wait, Navigate Challenge
• The Embodied Yes & No Challenge
• The Shortcut To Enlightenment Challenge
• The Great Unmasking
• The Choice Over Obligation Challenge
• The Living From Enthusiastic Consent Challenge

I mean, any of these would probably work and do a decent job of describing what the frick it’s all about. And possibly disabuse people from thinking that the Great Pleasure Challenge has anything at all to do with rose petals, or water beds, or mirrored ceilings.

(Though maybe it will for you! I have no idea what your body has in store for you)

Regardless, the essence is still the same. Any of these point to the core concept of the Challenge, which is to connect you to your yes, and have you honoring your no.

I could change the name but I probably won’t as it is apparently in my pleasure to create extra work for myself by having to completely redefine commonly used words and swim against the current of hyper-puritanical systems that see sex everywhere (even when there is none). Lol.

If you would like to join us for this next round of what-is-for-the-foreseeable-future-being-called-as The Great Pleasure Challenge you can right here:

​The Laundry-Shall-Wait-Until-I-Feel-Like-It-And-I-Will-Surprise-Myself-By-Eventually-Really-Fucking-Feeling-Like-It Challenge​

We’re starting March 9th.
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Loving all over you,

Xoxo

Amelia