Fun is in the Eye of the Beholder

Fun is in the eye of the beholder...

Could it be possible that having fun is all about perspective? 

I've been writing "have more fun" on my calendar each week for several months now and when I look back sometimes I think I did have some fun and other times I think "meh, I need to have more fun." "I need to let loose more." Or do I? If letting loose is fun to you, then yes. But if letting loose causes anxiety and makes you feel uncomfortable, then probably not. I don't know which it is for me. I think it depends on the moment. 

The life of an extroverted introvert is complex. We like having fun with others but we also enjoy having alone time. And if there's not a good balance of both, we're not a lot of fun to be around, in all honesty. At least in my experience I can get really grumpy if I feel overstimulated by too much interaction and don't have enough alone time. And the reverse is the case as well. I can get pretty grumpy with too much alone time too. 

I've been hearing a lot about functional medicine lately though and I think there might be an underlying cause to this grumpiness. (And it might not have as much to do with being extraverted or introverted as I think.) My gut instinct says it's more about worthiness. And a cultural belief possibly that as adults we're not supposed to have that much fun. "Grow up" and "be serious," "act mature," "don't be such a baby" are just some of the phrases that we hear pretty often. But aren't we losing the joy factor released when having fun, the fun that we had when we were kids, the joyous, creative, open-minded type of fun? 

Why is so much emphasis put on acting like an adult in this culture? Is working too many hours and feeling stressed out all the time really an ideal that we want to follow? 

Yes, we have more responsibilities as adults but do we really have to confront all of those responsibilities with grumpy, stressed-out, "mature" behavior? And what's so "mature" about feeling stressed out all the time anyway? Wouldn't it actually be more mature to be resilient and bounce back from day-to-day adult stressors through having more fun and creative time? Aren't we all worthy of that?

What does "to have fun" really actually mean?

As I've learned from Brené Brown, knowing the definition of the terms we regularly use can really shed greater light and increase our awareness of how we use these terms and ideals in our lives.

The Webster dictionary says that the word "fun" means "the feeling of being amused or entertained" or "something that is amusing or enjoyable : an enjoyable experience."

What do you find enjoyable? What does "having fun" mean to you?

For me, it can be a wide variety of things. I have fun creating art, taking pictures, writing, cloud watching, dancing, walking, laughing, telling stories with friends, listening to lively or beautiful music, traveling to a new place, sometimes cooking. :) 

Do you think some mundane things in life can be converted into an enjoyable experience or a fun time?

If I have taken the time to fill my self-love and worthiness cup up with beautiful affirmations, breathing exercises, creative expression, friendly connection, and love, then yes, I think it's possible. 

But if that cup is running low, the grumpy factor swoops in more quickly and even normally fun activities can feel like a drag. It's all about perspective, awareness, attitude, and self-love, huh?

Honoring Our Angels By Sprinkling More Life into our Days

On Day of the Dead or All Saint's Day, I have my loved ones in mind who are now angels. It's comforting in a way to imagine all my angels watching out for me. But I do miss their earthly presence. Their legacies of living life to the fullest live on though and their memory reminds me to have more fun. A few weeks ago, I wrote a letter to myself about this exact subject. It keeps coming up. I think as adults we sometimes get very "adulty" and forget that having fun is equally--if not more important than getting all the "adulty" things done in our lives. Here's my letter:

Dear Self,

Your job now is to focus on relaxation and sprinkling more fun into everyday. Life is much too precious to go day by day only working and not relaxing or having fun while doing so. Life is about adjusting the lens we use to look at what’s going on and responding differently as our awareness grows and we see the sheer beauty that is available to us if only we look for it. There are little things that we can do everyday to relax more and sprinkle more fun atop our day-to-day duties and activities and routines.

• Create a calendar of all the fun things you do

• Track your gratitude daily for the simple joys in life

• Schedule time every week just for you and dedicate some time to what delights you

• Slow down and breathe, savor the moment when you can, especially when you become aware that you’ve been holding your breath or running around not really living this beautiful life

• Step back to enjoy the view better and see the bigger picture for perspective
• Pace yourself, especially when busy

In sprinkling these seemingly simple yet fun activities into our lives on a daily or even bi-weekly basis, we honor our loved ones' lives by living our lives more fully and having fun while doing so.

(This is my fun costume from Halloween this year. I was a travel bug. :-) It was really hard not to have fun while wearing this!)

Doodling to Destress

Today at lunch, even though I only had a little under a half an hour to eat, I sat in the rich sunshine and doodling this little tribute to the sun and moon with a highlighter I had with me. It's simple, but it made me feel more artsy and creative and more connected to my true self. I am artist. And even if I don't get paid to create art, I can still create it virtually whenever I feel like it, and from the Fun-A-Day challenge this month, I am learning to recognize the difference in how I feel on the days when I make time for my art and how much more relaxed I am. Doodling truly is a great destresser! I may need to get a little doodle book to have with me while on walks and out and about so my art can be accessible whenever inspiration hits. :)

Do you doodle? How does it make you feel?

Sunrise...Sunset...Zumba

For today's fun, the Seattle area experienced 60 degree spring like weather in January again! And I enjoyed the amazing sunrise and sunset. And the fact that the days are a little bit longer now. Afterwards, I went to zumba, like old times, and it's like riding a bike! I had really missed dancing in a big group to fun music!

So sunrise, sunset, painted skies and zumba class. It was a fun day all around. Enough said. :)

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul."

~Martha Graham 

Practicing Self-Compassion is Fun

I'm practicing self-compassion with my Fun-A-Day challenge, because I haven't posted in the last few days because I have been super busy learning and growing at my first life coaching training weekend at Seattle Life Coach Training. On Saturday, for fun and experience and growth, I got to phone coach for the first time using a wheel of balance exercise, which, I might add, involved coloring. :) 

Then on Sunday, I practiced creative visualization and right after saw a 2-second rainbow--like it was just for me. And then that afternoon I celebrated with my entire city/state /region when our beloved Seattle Seahawks won in overtime in a nearly impossible comeback to go to the Super Bowl again! I think the players also visualized their win and never ever gave up. So inspiring and the joyful energy was contagious!

Yesterday I had fun sleeping in, feeling moved by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes, and enjoying healing acupuncture. And today, although I didn't feel very good, fighting a persistent headache and then good ol' cramps, I would say that having self-compassion and self-love in going home early and eating healing pho and resting all afternoon and evening was the best gift I could give myself today. The gift of listening to my body and my intuition and taking care of myself. Not fun to have pain but essential to have self-compassion and a little fun to get to watch Rio 2 while resting. :) 

Artwork coming again soon. Here are some photos I've taken the past few days for now.

Drawing Fun

For the 12th day of fun this month, I decided to try making a mandala. I have admired how beautiful they are for awhile now and read that drawing is good for relaxing, so I have it a try. Unfortunately I couldn't find a ruler so I ad-libbed. I'm still working on it but my back got tired and it's time to rest, so this is all for now. (I think I'll do better the next time but it's not a competition. It was fun to try and it's the process of creating something new that counts.)

Football Fun

For Day 10, I was having so much fun that I didn't have a chance to post. But I baked pumpkin cupcakes, got to hang out with family and friends and rooted on our home team on their way to the Super Bowl.

Fun Everyday

My life was truly shaped in such a positive way as I began last year with daily creativity projects through the Fun-A-Day challenge. So as the year came to a close, I knew I needed this challenge again to have a little (or a lot of) fun everyday. And starting the new year in this way is the best medicine! Creativity mixed with friends is also the best medicine for whatever ails you, especially in the winter months.

As I've been brainstorming ideas for themes and cool projects to do this month for my 2nd Fun-A-Day challenge, I noticed that I'm putting some pressure on myself to do something really original and unique. But then I remember that I set out to go easy on myself and show myself lots of love and compassion this year. I don't need to do something elaborate and detailed for it to be fun. And I have to remember that I'm doing this for ME. It's great if, in sharing what I do for fun this month, others feel inspired or happy when they see what I create, but the true benefit of daily creativity is the process of creating and the flow one feels when they're letting all their creativity hang out. 

So no matter what theme I might choose for the day or week or month, for my Fun-A-Day 2015, I'm going to blog about what I create. Everyday. And one of my intentions and possible themes is opening my heart through art--song, dance, words, photography, collage, painting.

For today, I wanted to create a top 12 sunset photos from 2014 collage. I feel great comfort and satisfaction in photographing nature's beauty and sharing my reverence for our amazing planet. 

This quote from Henri Matisse sums up why putting our creative projects out there in a public arena like the internet is an incredible practice in vulnerability: 

"Creativity takes courage." 

May we all have the courage to let our creative juices flow in this new and shiny year. And may we share what we create with our loved ones and make new friends in the process. :) 

Happy creating!