The Power of Never Feeling Guilty About Your Pleasures
The importance of never being ashamed of the things that bring you joy …
“The term guilty pleasure is mostly used in jest – I understand that, I do it. It’s a seemingly innocent mechanism of shielding ourselves from the judgement of others; of acknowledging something we like isn’t particularly highbrow.
Quite often, we find it difficult to simply enjoy reality TV, cheesy pop songs or our favourite boybands. We know that someone – read: strangers on the internet – will disapprove.
I’m not sure who was allowed to determine what constitutes a good, respectable song, band, film etc. and what doesn’t, but we – as a society – seem to have clearly defined notions of what is worthy of our time and admiration, and what is not.
We have been conditioned to believe that even our downtime – the time we take to relax, practice self-care and unwind – should be somewhat intellectually stimulating (or at least look to be on social media).
We can’t simply watch and discuss Love Island on our Instagram Story without first disclosing that what’s about to come is of zero importance, and promising we have in fact also done something much more productive with our day.
It can be difficult in our increasingly switched-on society, where most people are searching for meaning in almost every piece of media they consume, to appreciate light hearted content for what it is: entertainment.
Bettering ourselves through watching documentaries, reading think pieces and keeping up with world news is important, but so is making time for the things that bring us nothing but joy.
“Taking to Twitter to announce your upset at Chirshell and Justin’s divorce after a lengthy Selling Sunset binge opens you up to unwarranted criticism, because there are ‘worse things going on in the world.’”
The world is heavy. Now more than ever, our downtime – and any time we choose – should be a time for guilt-free escapism. We should never apologise for the things that make us happy; the things that we love simply because they make us smile, laugh or forget about the world for even a moment.
Whether it’s an hour-long kitchen dance party to the Spice Girls in the evening after a hard day, or a 9am to 7pm Sex and the City marathon because your mind has been in constant overdrive and you just can’t face another pandemic-related bombshell.
But most importantly, remember that there never needs to be a reason. Tucking into this kind of feet-up and switch-off content can be a welcome hug for your mental health, but you don’t have to be suffering in order to justify enjoying it.
I wear my Made in Chelsea-loving, Great British Bake Off-obsessed hat with pride, and I will continue to live tweet both as if people actually care what I have to say.
There’s a power in being unapologetic about the things we enjoy and the ways we choose to spend our time, but it’s hard. We care what people think. We want to come across as educated, cultured and aware – and that’s where the problem lies.
Somewhere along the line, it became standard to assume people are incapable of watching so-called trash TV while simultaneously being concerned with more hard-hitting issues.
Taking to Twitter to announce your upset at Chirshell and Justin’s divorce after a lengthy Selling Sunset binge opens you up to unwarranted criticism, because there are ‘worse things going on in the world.’
But in the age of 24-hour news cycles and information overload, our not-so-guilty pleasures are crucial.
We don’t have to defend our less than intellectual viewing, listening or reading habits to anyone. Listen to that One Direction song, read that implausible fiction book, watch 100 episodes of Real Housewives.
While they might not make us better people, or help to save the world in some way, if they give us pleasure, the last thing we should feel is guilt.”
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To find Jo on social media you can follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @jobentham.