Do you have any "perverse pleasures"?
By The Horse
@TheHorse (214031)
Walnut Creek, California
October 24, 2015 1:03pm CST
Several years ago, I had a colleague who said she loved watching clothes tumble about in dryers with glass doors. She said she could sit there for hours and watch the clothes tumble around and around. I found her dryer joy a bit odd, but didn't give it much further thought.
It was only recently that I realized I had a similar perverse pleasure in my life: I love vacuuming! I have many normal pleasure, like taking photographs, playing guitar and woodworking. But I get a peculiar sense of joy when I vacuum. I HAVE to have a vacuum that has a clear plastic container, so I can watch the dust bunnies swirl around and around. The more spinning dust bunnies I see, the happier I am.
Cleaning a kitchen surface is OK. Putting dishes in the dishwasher is OK. But vacuuming is--pure happiness.
Do you have any slightly strange sources of joy?
13 people like this
16 responses
@DeborahDiane (40219)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Oct 15
I love watching water flow or fires burn in the fireplace. They are very meditative.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Oct 15
@DeborahDiane I hope they do Seven Bridges Road. That's one of my favorites.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40219)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Oct 15
@TheHorse - I agree. Tonight my husband and I are going to go watch a tribute band play music from "The Eagles." We saw the real Eagles perform during their Hotel California tour about 35 years ago. I can't wait to see tonight's performance. We had front row seats then ... and now! 
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
24 Oct 15
I'd have to say I agree with you! Some of my more "normal" pleasures, like refinishing wood surfaces, are also sort of "meditative." Do you have any odd ones like mine? I also really enjoy squeegee cleaning my windshield at the gas station.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
24 Oct 15
@MALUSE Yes, that counts! Can I send you mine? Actually, I kind of enjoy re-applying brown boot polish to my "teaching shoes" as well. A squeegee is the rubber thing at gas stations that we dip in water use to clean windshields.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (132209)
• India
25 Oct 15
Dumping things and then putting them where they belong. 
1 person likes this
@allknowing (132209)
• India
25 Oct 15
@TheHorse But I am desparately trying to get out of this habit. Give me one reason why I should place something in the first shelf which actually should go to the second shelf. Actually as simple as that and still................
2 people like this
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Oct 15
@allknowing When I first get home from work, I just dump my daypack wherever. I don't start organizing things until later.
@slund2041 (3314)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I sure wished I enjoyed vacuuming. I cannot say there is a job a like doing that much. I know my least favorite chore is dusting.
1 person likes this
@slund2041 (3314)
• United States
26 Oct 15
@TheHorse I like to lay and watch my fish tank. I find it relaxing to watch the fish swim by, as well as watch the bubbles in the tank.
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
27 Oct 15
@slund2041 Good one! I've enjoyed that too (at others' houses).
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
24 Oct 15
Do you wait for them to be almost ready to come off? I'd say I've been outdone! Oh, I enjoy catching a four- or five-year-old with a large booger on their finger and engaging them in a discussion about the best thing to do with it. It's always a funny moment. I discourage consumption or wiping on their (or my) clothes, and encourage finding a tissue for proper disposal.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (159754)
• United States
24 Oct 15
I wish these were contagious. I need some household help. I guess bookshelves are my passion.
1 person likes this
@owstalaga (4707)
• Philippines
29 Oct 15
Putting stuff all over the side of my bed? Keeping some of my things disorganized?
I like clutter more than organizing, unless I feel the urge to clean and get organized I'd let my stuff be all over the place. But of course I keep more stuff in boxes/cabinets and such to keep them from cluttering everywhere.
But of course I keep more stuff in boxes/cabinets and such to keep them from cluttering everywhere.@owstalaga (4707)
• Philippines
29 Oct 15
@TheHorse nah, somehow clothes and other stuff end up on one side of the bed and stay there. Aside from clothes hanging somewhere else.
@Rosekitty (19368)
• San Marcos, Texas
25 Oct 15
That is like me doing dishes..I never liked dishwashers and even got rid of one that was in a house i had..I prefer looking out a window and watching all the dishes,bowls,utensils and pans get changed to a clean smile!
@Rosekitty (19368)
• San Marcos, Texas
25 Oct 15
@TheHorse I also like doing laundry and seeing the dirty turn clean..drying them..nah..but folding them and putting them into neat little piles for the whole family..brings everyone together..hahaah
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
26 Oct 15
@Rosekitty I enjoy folding WARM t-shirts and knowing that there will be fewer wrinkles and only a few straight lines on them.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45645)
• Philippines
25 Oct 15
after other people hang their laundry here, i can't resist "fixing" them, if they're twisted, askew, too close together, or change the hangers, etc. but i guess that's more ocd, right?
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I don't think so, I am quite naturally happy so just breathing is a good thing with me.
@jstory07 (137351)
• Roseburg, Oregon
25 Oct 15
I must really be strange The only thing I really enjoy is making money online. I love that.
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Oct 15
I use Craigslist to sell my speakers. Does that count as "making money on-line"? I used to sell stuff on eBay too, but I grew tired of packing. I enjoy MyLot, but the money we make, though a reward for our efforts, is kind of "secondary."
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
26 Oct 15
I love decluttering my house! Sometimes I throw out the baby with the bathwater, though, and am sorry I got rid of this item or that, like my old high school annuals, for example.
@crewgirl (191)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I can't think of any as an adult, but when I was a child, I had many strange pleasures. I used to chew on the wood that made up the window sills. I wouldn't be surprised if I have lead poisoning. I guess it would explain a lot of unusual behaviors in my life. I also used to watch the birds eat seed from the window for literally hours. Even my cat would get bored before I would.
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
24 Oct 15
wait a sec, that giddiness one gets from watchin' the vac fill up's considered slightly strange? 'tis the highlight 'f my day! 'course, i love to watch horse hair fly in spring...'n the birds fight o'er who gets what from those winter coats whilst i'm brushin'.
'n that dryer thingy? 'tis actually quite mesmerizin' 'n entertainin'. sometimes tryin' to guess 'head which object's gonna be prevalent to view its next passin'.
