You know how they tell you that you “learn to appreciate” art? Like abstract art, classical music, even wine? Or maybe you don’t so much learn to appreciate as “come to appreciate.” Things grow on you, I guess. Or you on them. You develop a taste for things like Bach or Mondrian or french fries with mayonnaise.
One of the things I find myself doing, when I’m trying to help people have more fun in their lives, is this very one – helping them cultivate a taste for things – especially things that they don’t usually even think of as having a taste. A taste for fun. A sensitivity to the taste of fun, you might say. And so might I.
Others call this endeavor “the art of enjoyment.” It’s fun to think of it as an art. I mean, you’d think that if something is enjoyable you’d just automatically enjoy it. Like if a joke were indeed funny, you’d know it right away. You wouldn’t have to develop anything. You’d just laugh. On the other hand, your sense of humor does, in fact, develop. You can, actually, find humor in things that maybe you never looked at humorously before.
Like art. People who listen to classical music a lot sometimes comment about how a piece of music is funny. Did you know that a “scherzo” is a musical joke? I mean, are you supposed to laugh when you hear one? Then there’s Victor Borge and P.D.Q. Bach. They’re funny, all right. But the more music you know, the funnier they get. Actually, it’s not so much that they get funnier. But more like you get them.
So, the enjoyment of art, and, in deed, the art of enjoyment is predicated on some kind of learning. There’s art appreciation. And then there’s wine appreciation. And hot sauce appreciation. And, in general, just plain life appreciation. The more you learn about any part of it, the more you can appreciate it, the clearer the sheer fun of it.
This leads us to the art of fun, a.k.a. the art of enjoyment. It has a lot to do with appreciating, which has a lot to do with learning. Like riding a bike, catching a frisbee, skiing, skating, dancing. And also like, oddly enough, eating. There is an art to appreciating food. To practice that art, you pay attention to taste, you experience the textures, you differentiate between the smells, notice the presentation, the sensation, the effect on your energy, your body. And by paying attention, I mean appreciate. And by appreciate, I mean enjoy, and by enjoy, have fun with.
Unlike some kinds of learning, the kind of learning you do when you’re learning the art of fun is, in itself, fun. It may not be as much fun as you think you’ll be having once you come to master all the nuanced profundities and profound nuances and things. But if you’re doing it right, you’re having as much fun doing it as the fun your having learning about the fun you are going to have, if you know what I mean. It’s what you might call anticipatory fun – like the smile that comes to you before you quite get the joke.
One of the deepest and most fun things to learn about when you’re learning the art of fun is learning about the art of having fun with other people. It’s an exponential thing – when you’re having fun having fun with people who are having fun having fun with you. As it were. This is what games are for, and, coincidentally, so am I.