Spend two hours sketching an apple, shading and contouring, filling in imperfections, adding depth and perspective, capturing its soul on paper, and then you'll know if drawing a face is intimate or not.

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If pleasure is for pleasure's sake, if it has no purpose but is an end in itself, then - it is only a distraction from our goals? 

I understand that living has its own pleasures, like the cool breeze on a hot day, the first bite when you're awfully hungry, a spontaneous hug. But pleasure that is sought, such as smoking, doing drugs, drinking, eating past the point of satisfaction, etc, are for their own sake most of the time? 

I had a conversation recently, about 'goals' and 'purpose' - that is, if one knows one's purpose, then one will naturally avoid indulgences that do not further that purpose (but would more likely make you stray). 

And I replied that it's not possible to approach pleasure with logic and goal-driven rationale, because pleasure is it's own end, and logically, doesn't give us anything. And that was when I realized that, well, pleasure doesn't bring us anything other than the pleasure itself. 

Which makes me feel that I have been living an inexcusably hedonistic lifestyle. Hmmm. 

Thinking in progress. Simmer simmer.