Funsmithing

I'm a funsmith. I help make things fun. I've been a funsmith for more than 40 years. I'm very good at it.

From time to time, we need to be reminded how to make things fun again. We need to be reminded that we even have that option. It doesn't take much. Fifteen minutes of watching or listening to just about any newscast is enough to do it for you. A phone call with someone who is already having something very other than fun. A meeting with someone who's "secret agenda" is about proving how more important she is than you. A driver who ignores you on purpose. Lost keys. Lost temper. Losing. And the whole entire beautiful thing is ruined.

It's easier to help people remember how they can make things fun again if you start with things that are already supposed to be fun. Like the games you play just for fun. Because losing or winning that kind of game doesn't mean anything. Which explains Major Fun and Junkyard Sports and Pointless Games.

So I talk to people about fun, about what's fun in their lives. I teach people funny games and I teach people how to change funny games to make them more fun. I teach them games that are so unimportant that people can cheat if they need to, quit if they want to, play simply because it's fun. And, funny enough, that's how I help people recover fun in their own lives.

In that same way, I can help them make things more fun in other people's lives. I can help people who make games make their games more fun. I can help people who play games make game playing more fun. I can help people who have stopped playing find games that will bring them fun again. I can help them find fun in the world in their family and even inside themselves, hence The Well-Played Game and Recess for the Soul.

I do this in person, on the phone, by email, with individuals or teams or professional groups. You pay what you can. I do what I can.

We should talk.

from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith