guilty pleasures

Lastnight I was driving to a party with my friend Laura and her brother. We were listening to the radio - a very faint background noise until the song Whatever You Like by T.I. came on. Laura turned up the volume, sheepishly justifying the song as one of her 'guilty pleasures'.

Why is it that we can't seperate guilt from our pleasures that aren't accepted or impressive to other people? I know I have a list of guilty pleasures; things I enjoy in secret and have difficulty admitting to other people about. I often have one friend who I'll share this dirty secret with.

For example, my obsession with perezhilton.com and celebrity gossip is something my friend Shannon and I share. We're the first ones to know which celebrities are having babies, divorces or haircuts. I guess the reason I feel guilty about this is, other than the fact that it is completely ridiculous, is that I'm a journalism student so I should have better taste in news and have more to say about politics than the latest celebrity overdose.

What else do I feel guilty about enjoying so much? Mandy Moore films (if you can call them that). Black nail polish. Those one hit wonders from the 90s that play on easy rock radio stations (i.e. She's So High, Everclear). Now that I've felt compelled to list them I'm running out of them. I guess I'm not as guilty as I thought.

What about my non-guilty pleasures? Well, it's no secret that I am in love with home decorating, making lists and running errands. When I have a car to drive around one of my first stops is Home Depot. I walk down each aisle and spend extra time swipping paint samples for rooms that only exist in my head.

If something is pleasurable for us, we should just do it and enjoy it. Enjoy the little things because the big things can sometimes be really shitty. If all it takes to make me happy is a pleasing colour palette for a fantasy foyer than I think I'm doing pretty well and have nothing to feel ashamed about.

What are your guilty pleasures?