I recently saw an article on one of the newsfeeds that treated the topic of fun, and how we’re not having any anymore. That in part, because of social media, there exists a heightened sense of shame and an inability to find joy because we’re so often comparing, so often seeing others who, from all appearances, are enjoying life more than we are.
On a different but related note, I’ve always had trouble with the analysis of athletes who emerge from an unproductive stretch by explaining that their game improved after they convinced themselves to just “go out there and have some fun.” Seems like a trite, arbitrary thing to say and to try and do.
I guess I get it from the standpoint of tricking your brain into somehow ignoring the scrutiny from fans and analysts in the broadcast booth, along with handling the pressure the athlete him or herself is already feeling with regard to living up to contracts and endorsements worth gazillions of dollars. It must be difficult to separate enjoyment from a focus on execution and handling the pressure of fans in the stands or behind the ropes, along with a TV audience who may want you to succeed but will also bite your head off if you don’t.
So, fun. Seems to me you can’t force it. Fun is fun when it’s less planned, more organic—or whatever word works for you. I can’t help but think that fun has gone dormant because people are too easily bored anymore. They’re trying too hard and getting stupid and ridiculous (think gender reveal parties with an incendiary component). Or they’re working long hours in order to have enough money to have a little fun… Maybe fun is just a guilty pleasure we can never truly enjoy because we feel we should be working. Yikes.
I used to have fun going out in our back yard and smashing rocks, just to see what they looked like inside. I can still play catch with someone and consider it fun. If I’m near an open body of water, I can skip rocks until my arm hurts and consider it fun. I can sit in one place for a while and marvel at a sunset or the scenery and consider it time well spent. I guess fun for me doesn’t necessarily require other people or exotic locales or activities that push the envelope, which all sounds more like work to me, and like someone’s just trying to show off.
3 Cents' 