Friday, May 20, 2005
from "The Fun Connection"
I thought you might find this, from my article "The Fun Connection, a good introduction to the process of restoring fun:
The thing about fun is that most of the time we never really know we're having it until we're not. So usually we can only tell when something was fun. And then we forget about it. Unless it was really fun, so much fun that it was unforgettable. That's what I call "Deep FUN." What other people call being in "flow" Being in the "zone." I like to think of Deep FUN as those times when we get totally present. When we are exactly where we most want to be. Every aspect of our selves - mind, heart, muscles, breath, senses - is completely engaged. Involved. Not because we make ourselves be present. But because we totally, absolutely, entirely want to be doing what we're doing, in this place, in this moment, in this body. Because we are wholly, completely, exactly where we want to be.
Those are the times when we become gifted, when everything we experience is a gift - the day, the people, the ability to experience. When every word we can manage to form is a word of gratitude, praise.
The first step in making things fun is to take note of everything that we do for fun. So we can see it all. So we can see it, at all. My suggestion, start with an inventory: What fun do we remember having? Deep FUN can happen and be over in an instant - in the time it takes to catch the glance of someone who glances at us. An instant that at the time was timeless. Like the eternal moment of a high dive when we are between board and water. That could have just as easily happened on the telephone or on the way to the bus, on a tricycle or in a Ferrari. We make the inventory as inclusive and extensive as we can - we give it maybe days, weeks, until we've gather all those moments of fun in one place. And the more we collect, the deeper it gets, every time we think about fun, and every time we have it.
So, what is fun?
The thing about fun is that most of the time we never really know we're having it until we're not. So usually we can only tell when something was fun. And then we forget about it. Unless it was really fun, so much fun that it was unforgettable. That's what I call "Deep FUN." What other people call being in "flow" Being in the "zone." I like to think of Deep FUN as those times when we get totally present. When we are exactly where we most want to be. Every aspect of our selves - mind, heart, muscles, breath, senses - is completely engaged. Involved. Not because we make ourselves be present. But because we totally, absolutely, entirely want to be doing what we're doing, in this place, in this moment, in this body. Because we are wholly, completely, exactly where we want to be.
Those are the times when we become gifted, when everything we experience is a gift - the day, the people, the ability to experience. When every word we can manage to form is a word of gratitude, praise.
So how do we make it fun? And how do we keep it deep?
The first step in making things fun is to take note of everything that we do for fun. So we can see it all. So we can see it, at all. My suggestion, start with an inventory: What fun do we remember having? Deep FUN can happen and be over in an instant - in the time it takes to catch the glance of someone who glances at us. An instant that at the time was timeless. Like the eternal moment of a high dive when we are between board and water. That could have just as easily happened on the telephone or on the way to the bus, on a tricycle or in a Ferrari. We make the inventory as inclusive and extensive as we can - we give it maybe days, weeks, until we've gather all those moments of fun in one place. And the more we collect, the deeper it gets, every time we think about fun, and every time we have it.
