True Fun
When is the last time you had fun? I mean real fun, when you felt a joyful engagement that energized and uplifted you long afterwards? Don’t judge yourself if you have difficulty remembering such a time – sadly, many of us don’t regularly have this heightened experience as adults.
I became very interested in this topic last year after I realized my default mood for much of my life had been “serious and slightly worried” and was searching for ways to shift to a lighter, more easygoing way of being. Besides using positive psychology and mindfulness practices, I thought it would be helpful if I spent more time playing (and laughing!)
By chance, I discovered a wonderful resource to help me do that – a book titled The Power of Fun. It’s about a very specific type of experience, in contrast to the many things we call “fun” in popular culture. The author, Catherine Price, defines True Fun as “the confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow.”
True Fun is the confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow.
Without all three of these being present, you might be feeling happiness, awe or enjoyment, which is great! But you’re not receiving the full benefits of True Fun. What are those benefits? In addition to feeling wonderful, True Fun produces improved mental and physical health, reduces stress, builds resilience, boosts creativity and empathy, and more.
Let’s look closer at these three critical elements:
Playfulness refers to a carefree, lighthearted attitude, doing something just for its own sake without self-consciousness – essentially the opposite of seriousness.
Connection means sharing a meaningful or special experience with someone else (or with something else such as nature or your own body.)
And Flow is a psychological term that describes being fully engaged and present in an activity to the point where one loses track of time passing.
Price is careful to distinguish True Fun from Fake Fun, which is sold to us as fun by marketers and consumer culture but is actually “numbing and leaves us empty when we’re done,” activities such as passive consumption of social media and news, binge-watching TV, buying unnecessary things, and self-medicating with substances.
Why don’t we have more True Fun if it’s so enjoyable and beneficial?
Why don’t we have more True Fun if it’s so enjoyable and beneficial? Some reasons include a cultural disapproval of fun as selfish or a frivolous waste of time, thinking we’re too busy to make time for fun, and easy access to numerous Fake Fun distractions. And our everyday busyness and focus on productivity can make us feel too exhausted to make the effort. However, Price points out that True Fun doesn’t require a lot of time or expense, and that it energizes and nourishes us so we can feel better and function better.
I went through the book’s recommended Fun Audit to understand the people, locations and activities that have historically been part of my past True Fun experiences, and I identified my Fun Factors, the characteristics and contexts that frequently lead to True Fun. This allowed me to brainstorm ways to set the stage for having True Fun in the future.
For example, I discovered that my own Playfulness is often associated with spontaneity and imagination, my sense of Connection usually involves small groups and sharing knowledge, and I more easily enter Flow when nature and the senses are a focus.
Therefore, to facilitate opportunities for all 3 to come together and result in True Fun, I came up with ideas such as: inviting a small group of friends to play an imaginative game that includes role-playing or storytelling, leading a guided mindfulness walk in a natural setting, joining a wine-tasting class, watercolor painting with a friend, exploring an unfamiliar place and making it come alive with an impromptu scavenger hunt… Hopefully you get the idea!
Price also shares her acronym for techniques we can use to “invite more fun into your everyday life," SPARK. S is for clearing Space for fun in our hectic, cluttered lives; P is for pursuing our Passions and interests; A is Attract fun with a variety of methods including building metaphorical (or literal) playgrounds; R is Rebel – against habit and routine, adulthood, expectations, and more; and K is for Keep at it, how to continue to prioritize fun in your life.
In case you couldn’t tell by now, I’m very enthusiastic about this book and its concepts. I’m already seeing the benefits of using the techniques and mindset shifts I’ve learned. It ties in beautifully with some of the important qualities I help people build in my work, including connection, resilience, and well-being. The book’s subtitle sums this up quite well: How to Feel Alive Again.
I’m guessing that most of my readers could benefit from having more True Fun on a regular basis, and from learning how to make that happen rather than wait and hope it will show up on its own. In addition to readingThe Power of Fun and discovering all the details yourself, perhaps you’d like to discuss the status of your own fun with me – I’d be happy to help you brainstorm some ideas for creating the types of True Fun activities that are ideal for you.
Image by KoolShooters from Pexels
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