“Ben, I am just smiling thining about my beautiful earings and I thought you should know. They are currently safe at home in their little box but i wish they were in my ears, however, I was too paranoid to wear them to work today! Thank you darling. You make me so incredibly happy. See you in about 8 hours….. love b”
That was a beautiful email I received this morning. It is currently the best thing about today. It may stay that way until she gets home.
I was going to write a philosophical, um, treatise, about the different layers of why a person does nice things, but I’ve already run through them in my head and I am now bored of the topic. But I will say that the pleasure I derive in making her happy may be no less than the pleasure of receiving the aforementioned earrings. Perhaps that is why I couldn’t stand to wait for her to have a bad day and so adorably say, ‘I need something shiny!’ and give them to her then. I think I lasted for about 20 minutes until I gave in and hid one in her popcorn.
Well, I was going to delve into the subject of what really motivates people to do nice things. I suppose it breaks down to a reward system. But I think a reward system is too cynical and simplistic. People like to stop at, “Well you feel good when you do this so that’s why you do it!” Yeah right. That’s a component of it but that way of thinking starts you down a road that turns everyone into memes and abdicates the possibility of soul, spirit or God.
What I will say is that it makes me feel good to infer pleasure empathically which is itself capacitated by a loving relationship. And my conscious decision was to please her.
I guess it’s interesting to take things like motivation apart, but as long as it’s all good…who cares!
Here’s a trick: who am I writing this blog for? Dun dun duuuuuuun!
