Last month, I wrote about the importance of finding your tribe and huddling with other women. I was inspired to write this blog post after attending the Women Lead Change conference last October. Catherine Price was a keynote speaker at the event. She is the author of The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again. Catherine’s presentation inspired me to learn more about the importance of making time for fun and what True Fun is.
According to Catherine,
“True Fun is the confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow. Whenever these three states occur at the same time, we experience True Fun.”
How full is your tank in the area of true fun? What activities do you enjoy doing that bring you joy just for the pure sake of doing them? As you transition into a new year, maybe your intention is to have more fun!
True Fun doesn’t require wealth. And fun doesn’t necessarily require us to become busier or to add more activities to our already full schedules. The first step is to create space for fun by doing fewer things. You may already have activities in your life that lend themselves to True Fun like going out to dinner with a friend or taking a walk with a child. Spend your free time in more targeted ways, creating the space to really enjoy yourself and the company of those who make you smile.
Fun can give us more energy to achieve our goals and live a life that is satisfying and joyful. Listed below are some other benefits when you make time for fun in your life.
Benefits of Having Fun
- Increases resilience and empathy.
- Creates community.
- Empowers us to connect with other people.
- Helps us escape from self-judgement.
- Boosts our creativity and productivity.
- Lowers our stress levels.
- Helps us stay true to our authentic selves.
- Helps us avoid burnout.
There are a lot of ways to have fun and True Fun depends on personal interests and pleasures. However, I believe you will know you are experiencing True Fun when you laugh, feel free from self-judgement and self-consciousness, receive a boost of energy, and lose track of time as you are fully absorbed in the present moment.
So now what? You want to have more fun but you don’t know where to start? Maybe one of your intentions for the New Year is to create a Fun Squad, a group of people whom you tend to have fun with. Maybe it is a group of friends with whom you share a passion or coworkers whose company you especially enjoy. The more time you can spend with your fun squad, the more fun you’re likely to have, and the greater sense of community you’re likely to feel.
A few weeks ago, I gathered with a few of my friends whom I love spending time with. We attended the Holiday Hullabaloo. It was a fundraiser for Dorothy’s House. One of the activities inside this event was having a snowball fight. We found ourselves having so much fun playing in the snow, making snow angels, and trying our best to hit each other with snowballs. We were having True Fun!
I challenge you to make time to have more fun in your life this year. Share your moments of joy with us online or in the comments below. Let’s cheer each other on with playfulness, connection, and flow.
