‘It’s basically a religion to me’: How ‘The Nine Delights’ went from a tweet to a full-blown lifestyle philosophy

A simple internet “lifestyle philosophy” called “The Nine Delights” is gaining traction as a self-care framework, with some even calling it life-changing. Originally coined in 2021 by X user @i_zzzzzz, the concept encourages people to experience at least three of nine “delights”—like walking, goofing around, or enjoying something delicious—each day in the name of self-care. After resurfacing in early 2025, the philosophy has been embraced by a new wave of internet users who say it’s transformed their daily lives.

What are The Nine Delights?

The delights consist of a list of words or short phrases often vague enough to be open to interpretation but designed to spark joy or produce a feeling of personal satisfaction. Their creator didn’t include definitions for each, but those who adopted the philosophy later gave their interpretations, which can be summarized as follows:

1. Walking around: Getting a bit of exercise.
2. Fellowship: Spending time with people.
3. Deliciousness: Consuming something tasty.
4. Transcendence: Feeling like you’ve “leveled up” or reached a state of extreme delight.
5. Goofing: Having a laugh.
6. Amelioration: Improving yourself in some way.
7. Coitus: Sexy times.
8. Enthrallment: Reaching a state of intense focus or engagement.
9. WILDCARD: Experience any delight not listed above.

Adherents to the delights are not restricted to just three per day but are encouraged to pursue at least three for the best results.

Origins and spread of The Nine Delights

X user @i_zzzzzz, also known as Brooks Otterlake and a writer based in Montreal, originally introduced the system and listed the delights in a thread posted on June 21, 2021.

“Inventing a new lifestyle philosophy called ‘The Nine Delights’ where each day you try to experience at least three of the nine delights,” they wrote, followed by an image that listed each.

Otterlake informed the Daily Dot that the post was not meant to be at all serious, and he didn’t even know what the Nine Delights were at the time he made the joke.

“I wasn’t trying to seriously propose a lifestyle philosophy for people to follow,” he said in an email. “I mostly just thought ‘The Nine Delights’ was an amusing phrase that needed to get out of my brain and into the world.”

The initial tweets didn’t get a ton of traction, with the original only gaining 3,200 likes, but when a commenter asked for a list of the delights, Otterlake obliged. They then spread across X and to other social media sites over the years. In Sept. 2022, Tumblr user bashircore reposted and defined The Nine Delights, eventually netting over 129,000 notes.

On Feb 12, 2023, Instagram user @leximohneyofficial posted screenshots of the tweet and the Tumblr explanation to the tune of 55,000 likes.

The difference between ‘transcendence’ and ‘enthrallment’

People excited about The Nine Delights have often pondered and argued about the definitions of some of the delights, seemingly unaware that Otterlake never intended the post to be taken seriously. He certainly hadn’t defined these terms himself, and finds it amusing that so many social media users are acting like this is an actual religion.

“The funniest thing to me is when I see people debating the meaning of the more ambiguous delights—there are often strong opinions about what Enthrallment or Transcendence actually are, but the list itself is always taken as gospel, like it came from God instead of just some guy,” he says.

“And a lot of the time, the adherents don’t have any awareness of the original tweets — it’s just a concept floating around that they learned about from someone on Tumblr or TikTok, which I think is beautiful.”

Those who have adopted The Nine Delights as an important part of their lives may be excited to learn that Otterlake hinted to us that he’s got something new in the works related to the idea. He himself admitted to having trouble with keeping the habit of pursuing three delights each day, so he’s inventing something to help with that.

“I’ve been working on something that will make it easier for me and anyone else struggling to keep track of their delights. All I can say for now is that it is a beautiful physical object made of the finest materials available and it will change the world forever.”

2025 resurgence

On Feb. 17, 2025, X user @bimbologymajor gained 1.3 million views in a day by quote tweeting the original Nine Delights post with a 2023 photo of a written list of the delights and personal definitions of each. In her tweet, she expressed that she had been following the philosophy and found it transformative.

“Cannot emphasize how much this actually, truly changed my life,” she wrote. “Been living by the nine delights for years and it’s basically a religion to me.”

From there, renewed interest in the self-care system took off, fueled by the ongoing second season of a popular show. A significant number of other users drew comparisons to the philosophies found in the strangely religious corporation Lumon from the Apple+ series Severance.

“I’m so severance pilled I was like the parallels!” wrote @karlowitchy.

“These all actually fall within the temper Frolic, please carefully balance with the other three,” joked @CouchGiraffe. “Regards from Lumon.”

Otterlake called the response to The Nine Delights since 2021 “totally unexpected” and “surreal.” He certainly wasn’t trying to change people’s lives with a single silly post, but he’s happy it helped.

“I don’t care a huge amount about going viral on the internet, but seeing complete strangers say that their life was transformed because of something you posted is pretty much the best possible outcome for a couple of tweets,” he told us.

Related trends:

• ‘The work is mysterious and important’: So is this ‘Severance’ meme. Let us explain
• Trans people, don’t forget to take care of yourselves right now
• Dopamine Menus—or ‘Dopamenus’—are taking over TikTok
• Why a TikTok filter telling people what mental health diagnosis they look like bolsters stigmas

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