Sounds Like Fun
Yesterday was 40 and sunny. It felt like a vacation. My yard is still covered in snow and the driveway is a giant puddle of melting slush, but still - 40 and sunny in February feels GOOD. I was lucky to find an unexpected break between my afternoon meetings so I sat outside on my front steps for fifteen minutes just to feel sunshine on my face.
As I perched, searching the sky for a sense of serenity in my otherwise chaotic day…or existence, I remembered this blog idea that I had intended to write weeks ago, and completely spaced. It’s about fun…and how I’m pretty sure I don’t have enough of it. My imaginary BFF and life coach, Glennon Doyle, talks about this in my bible, Untamed, and it came up again in one of her podcast episodes a few weeks (or months?) back.
It goes something like this. Americans have two modes: work and rest. Our culture is such that we are considered lazy if we are not productive 99.9% of our waking hours. When we finally fulfill our duties at the end of the day, we crash into mindless activities like scrolling through Facebook. We’re too damn tired to do anything else. Like have fun.
Other cultures are much better at this than we are. I don’t know who these people are, but it was mentioned on the podcast to it has to be true. My guess is that it’s the Scandinavians. They seem to get everything right. Or the French with their whole joie de vivre thing. These mystery people have three modes: work, rest, and FUN. Wait, what? Yes. FUN.
Every.single.day includes fun. FUN! Do you know what this means? It means that these lifestyle wizards cultivate an enjoyable existence. This, my friends, gets us down to brass tacks. Other cultures are committed to improving the quality of life. Americans, I think, don’t. But maybe it’s just the American writing this blog. Who knows? But let me tell you, this hits home for me. So I started thinking - what exactly do I do that’s fun?
Shockingly, I made a list:
Hike
Exercise
Cook
Bake bread
Read
Organize things
Most parts of my job
Watch TikTok and pretend I’m talented enough to master the trending dance routines
Watch Bravo
Listen to podcasts
Write
Travel
Raise awesome kids
Where in the name of Jesus Christ Superstar is all the fun? Before I freaked out and re-evaluated 43 years of poor life choices leading me to this very moment - like the handful of times I thought bangs were a good idea - I consulted Google. Fun is defined as “someone or something that is amusing or enjoyable.” Interesting. There are, of course, takeaways from this research:
If I find my list amusing and enjoyable, then I have fun in my life.
Secondly, I’m mostly delightful to be around (except for when I’m tired or hungry or spinning with anxiety). That means I AM the fun in my life. Right, guys? RIGHT?
My definition is MINE. Your definition is YOURS. Sometimes our funs don’t match. That’s okay. I think.
I gave too much power to the word fun. I imagined building a real life tower of fun, comprised of bricks and wood and concrete, when all I really have to do is get out the Jenga pieces and start stacking.
I only have time for these things if I make time for these things.
I can only make time for these things if I prioritize my needs. Well, shit.
Oh, Goooooooooogle! (Imagine this as “Oh, Toooooooooodles!” from Mickey Mouse Club House.)
The Unselfish Art of Prioritizing Yourself
Time to get started.
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