Adrienne Maree Brown: Are you satisfiable? (Archival)
Dec 28, 2023
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Writer, facilitator, and activist Adrienne Maree Brown discusses the concept of being satisfiable, defining pleasure, and the wisdom of dropping into our bodies. Topics include inviting the 'orgasmic yes' into your life, awakening your body daily, creating equity through idea lineage, feeling satisfaction without producing, and giving without grasping.
Recognize the power of satisfaction and finding contentment in having needs met and experiencing genuine pleasure.
Redefine pleasure as a deep sense of satisfaction, contentment, and joy that comes from embracing a heart-centered approach to life.
Deep dives
The Importance of Being Satisfiable
One of the key concepts explored in this podcast is the idea of being satisfiable. The host reflects on how often we are driven by a constant pursuit of satisfaction, always seeking more, without actually feeling satisfied. The concept invites listeners to consider what it means to be satisfiable, to find contentment and joy in having needs met and experiencing genuine pleasure. This shift in mindset challenges the prevailing productivity culture and encourages listeners to embrace a more heart-centered approach to productivity that celebrates progress, aligns work with natural rhythms, and prioritizes creative rejuvenation. The podcast also highlights the importance of attention liberation, paying attention to where our focus is directed and consciously choosing where we want it to go.
Pleasure Activism: Redefining Pleasure
The podcast delves into the concept of pleasure activism, which involves redefining our understanding of pleasure beyond mere indulgence or sensory gratification. Pleasure is reframed as a deep sense of satisfaction, contentment, and joy that comes from having needs met and embracing a heart-centered approach to life. The discussion highlights various forms of daily practices of pleasure, ranging from engaging in creative work, intimate connections, spending time with loved ones, to being fully present and embodying tactile experiences. The emphasis is on finding satisfaction in the present moment and recognizing that everyone deserves pleasure and the right to feel satisfied.
Embracing the Power of Enoughness
The podcast explores the power of recognizing and embracing enoughness in our lives. The host encourages listeners to question societal norms that push a constant drive for more and better, and instead cultivate a sense of satisfaction with what we have and who we are. The idea of enoughness challenges the prevailing mindset of scarcity and hoarding resources, advocating for a shift towards generosity and redistribution. The discussion touches on how those with privilege can pay it forward by uplifting marginalized voices and communities, sharing resources, and recognizing the power of attention and presence in fostering meaningful connections and transformative change.
Transforming Productivity and Approaching Change
The podcast challenges the prevailing model of productivity driven by speed, efficiency, and forward progress, often associated with a masculine approach. The host advocates for embracing a more feminine attitude towards productivity, one that incorporates organic rhythms, creativity, and pleasure. This perspective emphasizes the importance of slowing down, recognizing the natural timing of processes, and allowing miracles and change to unfold in their own time. The discussion also highlights the need to transform ourselves in order to transform the world, questioning dominant systems and structures, embracing somatic experiences, and cultivating a right relationship with change and the production of miracles.
What does it mean to be satisfiable? And how do you recognize when you have “enough”?
These questions are central not just to our own well-being but to attaining a more just and equitable society. For this conversation, I sit down with writer, facilitator, and activist adrienne maree brown, who recently published the excellent book Pleasure Activism.
We take an in-depth look at how we might define pleasure for ourselves, the wisdom that we can access when we really drop into our bodies, and what it means to figure out how to be satisfiable — to recognize that you have enough.
Key takeaways from this conversation:
How to invite the “orgasmic yes” into your life
Why you should do something to awaken your body every day
How to create more equity by sharing your “idea lineage”
Why you don’t have to produce anything to feel satisfaction
Ideas on how to “give without grasping”
Go Deeper
Save $60 on RESET, a cosmic tune-up for your workday. RESET is a course created by Hurry Slowly host Jocelyn K. Glei that shows you how to move from a speed-obsessed way of working to a heart-centered way of working. It will teach you how to let go of “productivity shame,” tap into the natural rhythms of your energy and attention, and get into your creative flow. Save $60 on registration through January 15th.
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Favorite Quotes
“I’ll ask people, ‘When was the last time you were satisfied? Can you imagine being satisfied? What are the things that satisfy you in a given day? How do you know that you have done enough in a given day? Do you understand that you don’t have to produce anything to deserve satisfaction?’”
“We’re all so often showing up and giving each other the bare minimum of presence and then surprised that we can’t feel each other, that we don’t actually feel the depth of connection that we’re longing for.”
“There’s something about being in right relationship to change that acknowledges that not all change is meant to be driven, some of it is meant to be experienced in other ways.”
Resources
The references and ideas that we mention in this epi:
