I love and hate the term “guilty pleasures.” Why guilty? They’re things you adore, sometimes so much you feel guilty about indulging, or worse, overindulging. Writing this list, I thought it’d be hard to come up with ten… but now I could probably write twenty.

Here’s what to expect:I’ll share ten guilty pleasures of mine and reflect on what guilty pleasures mean as a whole.

Guilty Pleasure #1 – Being Alone

This guilty pleasure is something that I haven’t shared with anyone. This one I feel is weird because no one wants to be alone, and I don’t want to be alone all of the time, but I do shamelessly love my alone time.

I feel like anyone could probably guess that I love being alone, probably because I will share literally anything that I’ve done alone. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy the company of other people. I do enjoy being around friends, family, and whoever, but sometimes when I’m alone, I feel amazing. 

Guilty Pleasure #2 – Shopping

This one I feel like everyone has as their guilty pleasure or at least star shopaholics do. This is probably truly one of the pleasures that I feel very guilty about, because I’m spending money. Certain things that I buy are not really necessary for me to survive, not necessary for me to enjoy life.

They don’t call them guilty pleasures for nothing. 

But now I’m a bit less guilty about it because I’m making my own money, and I’m paying for everything out of all my hard-earned money. In the future, when I am not just living for myself but for my children, my husband, I think then I might feel a little more guilty.

Why Do Guilty Pleasures Bring So Much Joy?

Even if we feel a little sheepish about them, I think guilty pleasures bring joy because you feel familiar with that thing, and it brings out an emotion in you. The guilt comes when you have to admit or maybe you don’t that it’s something you truly love. Or if you go by a different definition, it is something that you are guilty of enjoying.

Guilty Pleasure #3 – Gadgets

Since elementary, technology has been my obsession and it has effected this guilt pleasure greatly. I love getting new gadgets and seeing how I can incorporate them into my daily life. My main gadgets are speakers , anything that takes pictures or videos. I currently have a drone, camera, and many tripods and accessories to help with the gadgets I have. I will say, so I will be doing a cleansing of my storage unit and my home supplies, because it’s getting very mess and big. 

How do you stop a guilty pleasure from being pointless? 

Now, I do believe that it is okay to have a guilty pleasure that is pointless. I on the other hand want all of my gadgets to have a purpose. So Gadgets is a great example for me to assess pointless things. I always look at gadgets as something that has a purpose or something that I use. If six months go by and I haven’t used it, then I assess if there is a reason why or should I sell that gadgets. There should be nothing that lingers, but is never used. 

Guilty Pleasure #4 – Doing Anything in My Car

I have never been homeless, but I have indeed slept in my car. Not overnight, but any chance I get when I have some free time and I don’t feel like going into any stores and whatnot, I have actually sat in the back of my car and watched movies. My car also is the one thing that I currently own, so maybe it’s a sense of ownership that makes me so at peace inside of it. 

Have your guilty pleasures evolved over time? What did you secretly love as a kid that you still enjoy or have outgrown?

The only evolution in my guilty pleasures is the fact that I add more to the list. As I grow, my guilty pleasures are fine-tuned but not erased.

I have always had a stationery obsession. That guilty pleasure has been refined: now I don’t buy everything I see in stores or buy things without thinking. I also use my stationery more rather than letting it collect dust.

Guilty Pleasure #5 – Journaling, Stationery, Art

Do you think society’s idea of “guilty pleasures” is changing? Which pleasures are becoming less taboo?

I think the term guilty pleasure has changed in meaning. It’s no longer something you hide, but now it’s something you sort of share, as a way of finding your own community of people who like the same thing as you.

There’s currently a trend going around saying that we need to bring back shame because it’s almost nonexistent now. While I agree to an extent, I think the world becoming more open is the reason so many people are willing to share their guilty pleasures.

Is there a guilty pleasure you feel a little conflicted about love it but also lowkey cringe?

I can’t say there’s a guilty pleasure that I cringe about, just because they wouldn’t be something I enjoy if I felt like I should be ashamed of it. If I personally cringed every time I did it, it wouldn’t really feel like a pleasure.

That being said, one guilty pleasure I feel a little embarrassed about if I were to be caught doing it is most definitely the shower concerts. That’s supposed to be a solo experience, and anyone else listening feels like an intrusion on my privacy.

Guilty Pleasure #6 – Shower Concerts

How do you balance indulging in guilty pleasures without letting them take over your productivity or goals?

It is a hard balance to maintain between guilty pleasures and productivity. One thing I’ve found is including my pleasures into certain goals so that they feel fun. Or enjoying guilty pleasures in increments alongside the work I have to do.

For example, guilty pleasure number seven is watching anything that makes me feel nostalgic, basically binge-watching things I’ve already seen. That’s a very wasteful guilty pleasure, because it’s not really productive. But I tend to do a lot of great work when I have something playing in the background, and that’s where this one comes in.

Another way I balance it is by turning guilty pleasures into rewards. For instance, guilty pleasure number eight is baking. I’ll set a goal: if I complete a task or finish a productive day, then I can bake a batch of cookies later on. That way, I’m still indulging but also motivating myself to get work done. You can honestly do this with almost any guilty pleasure; it’s about making the reward the pleasure itself.

It helps when some of your guilty pleasures are also things that can be productive.

Are there any guilty pleasures that actually turned into serious passions or hobbies for you?

I’m gonna say all of them. I love to learn something new, and every time I do, I become passionate about it. I want to do it every single day and somehow weave it into my blog or my brand. That’s actually how my brand came to be, it was born from a passion I didn’t want to stop pursuing.

Guilty Pleasure #7 – Rewatching Shows

I absolutely love detective shows and anime, and I find myself rewatching them whenever I don’t have anything else to do. This is mainly because there just aren’t enough new detective shows coming out, so I just have to go back and cycle through the old ones. In anime, I am lucky that there is more coming out, but it is hard to decide on new things to watch. Meanwhile, I have a handful of animes I would rewatch.

Some of my favorite animes: Naruto, Case Closed, Demon Slayer, Dr. Stone, and many more.

Guilty Pleasure # 8 – Baking

I feel like I don’t have to explain this, but who doesn’t love baked goods? I enjoy making things that people would enjoy. Sometimes I bake things that I don’t even get to eat. I feel like the reason baking would be a guilty pleasure in my case is the fact that I bake for the joy and don’t really care about eating it.

Guilty Pleasure #9 – Romanticizing My Life

This started when I felt like my life was too still, and I craved movement and activity. So I decided to try romanticizing my life. Through that, I not only started loving the little things I do, but I also turned it into a passion, always observing, always noticing, always celebrating the small things.

If you had to pick one guilty pleasure to share with the world unapologetically, which would it be and why?

This question both has an answer and doesn’t. This blog is my answer. I don’t think I have one guilty pleasure I wouldn’t share with the world, and that’s why I’m writing this.

What advice would you give to someone who feels embarrassed about their own guilty pleasures?

First, I would say: the longer you spend antagonizing yourself about your pleasures or trying to hide them; the more you’re avoiding your own joy. The less you share, the fewer people you’ll meet who might have the same guilty pleasure.

For example, guilty pleasure number seven: I enjoy detective shows and anime. I don’t think I’d shy away from saying I like anime, but there are people who believe it’s only for kids. That’s just not true. And honestly, I’m surprised at how many people I’ve known my whole life who also like anime. I just didn’t know until I started talking about it.

Guilty Pleasure #10 – Being Around Water or Nature

I enjoy feeling the breeze, the water, the grass. It separates me from the world, and all I can think about is nature’s beauty and the complex ecosystems that I may not fully understand, but deeply appreciate.

Bonus Guilty Pleasure – Overplanning My Life

I know I only planned to share 10, but you get a bonus. Planning my life down to the tiniest details excites me. I make lists for my lists, outline timelines, and even though I rarely stick to them, the process itself brings me joy. Color-coding calendars no one else will ever see still gives me peace of mind.

Wrapping It Up

So there we go ten guilty pleasures plus a bonus. Not a confession, but a celebration. Because sometimes, it’s the quirks we embrace that make life fun.

I don’t think we should hide our guilty pleasures. Certain things are meant to stay private, but others are worth sharing so we can find community with people who enjoy the same things. In today’s world, where we do everything through our phones( ordering food, dating, finding friends) it’s easy to keep our quirks hidden. But sometimes, talking to someone in person and sharing a guilty pleasure you’ve never admitted out loud is the perfect way to spark a conversation and maybe even make a new friend.