I honestly think it’s a bit tragic that we live in a world where fun is seen as frivolous, or some kind of goal-oriented project, or the last thing we have on our list. We get bogged down by the needs of others and all those darn responsibilities. Is it possible that we took the lessons from our parents too much to heart? Of do we just wake up one day and realize that the love and attention that we want to give to everyone around us has become a bit of a trap?
Old Broads and Bikinis
I’ve always really admired the older broads who would spend their summers in their bikinis, gardening and puttering around the house, throwing on a caftan to go to the store. They just didn’t care about that “rule” that no one over 35 should ever wear a bikini. We had a neighbour whose summer look (until she was well into her 80s) was bikini and gardening clogs, cigarette in one hand and scotch in the other. While I don’t espouse her health habits – she must have genetic bulletproofing – I always was inspired by the joy for living that emanated from her.
There is a renewing power to joy.
I wonder if having fun – purposeless, pointless fun – is the new middle-aged bikini-wearing. It seems a bit self-indulgent, doing things only because they make you happy. You may find that others think that you’re not really trying sometimes. But you know what I learned from my neighbour? Stop giving a crap about what people think and start having more fun.
Try an exercise this week for fun:
- Pinpoint something you do every week that’s really important to you. Something that you don’t want to do half-assed. It may be the meals you make for your kids, the quality of a report you hand in at work, organizing an event for friends, something like that.
- Think about how you could lower your standards a bit. Not a lot – maybe just 25% less perfect. 25% more lackadaisical (best definition I found for this was “carelessly lazy” – love it).
- Figure out how much time you save on that task by being a little bit lackadaisical – 5 minutes? 20 minutes?
- Think of something fun you can do with that time. I looked online to find fun things you can do in 5 minutes and came up with mostly tedious lists of things like empty the dishwasher, floss your teeth, etc. I hope I don’t have to point out to you that those things are not fun.
Remember
- Fun is something that takes up your whole attention, relaxes your body and has no purpose beyond giving you pleasure.
- Fun is not maintenance, and fun does not set goals.
- Once you start thinking about it you will remember quick things you like doing. The best ideas I could find were at CBS.
Handstands anyone? Let me know in the comments what you did for fun!