FUN. Who's having it?
Hi peeps,
I'm not having enough fun lately. Is anybody having a lot of fun? I mean laughing their asses off? Or feeling exhilarated? Or surprised? Or delighted? Or dancing the night away? Is anybody meeting the fun quotient in their lives?
Maybe mine is just abnormally impossible to meet or something. I don't know. Maybe my fun standards are too high. But lately I sort of feel like a whiny adult wishing I was a kid again and could just have some old fashioned fun!
This is what most of my days and nights are spent doing: sleeping, working, thinking, worrying, talking to other adults about life and problems, playing music (because I should), trying to pay bills, watching some stupid tv, and getting into bed thinking about stuff I should have done. Where is the fun in that? Is being a responsible adult really this sucky?
What do adults do to cut loose, to have fun, to let go and live for a bit? So the obvious one, at least for me, is drink. I know that is what a lot of adult humans do to relax, release tension, and have fun. Well...that worked for me for a long time until it became dangerous and not fun anymore. So that's out. AWESOME. ( Side note. Isn't it sad that once our adult selves found alcohol and drugs we forgot how to have fun without them. Like our imaginations stopped. We were having a blast as kids before without anything!) Maybe that's what I'm having, a crisis of the imagination.
So now what? So the next thing that comes to mind is shopping or basic entertainment (concerts, movies, cultural events, etc). Yup, those are fun sometimes! Cool. But those things cost MONEY. Spending money for fun makes life less fun when you're scraping by on a wink and prayer. So that shit is OUT. Neat.
Did I mention I'm living the dream?
What else...there's nature. I love nature. There are some amazing places to to be in nature out here in California. I need to partake more. Maybe that is something I could try. The only problem is that it takes a lot of time to get there and do the things. This is mainly a weekend solution. But I will give it some props.
I need weekday fun, people! I'm an immature 29 year old woman who doesn't drink and is trying to live a responsible life. What does a lady need to do to get some fun over here?
Maybe I could take up card games or something. Anything. Anything to relax my mind and my body for a little while so I can enjoy life for awhile without interfering with it. Simplicity. Relief. A few laughs. These are all things I got after a good buzz. Now I have to create my own buzz, and you know what that feels like? More work!
There must be a solution. Here is one I can think of, Halloween. I love Halloween a lot. I'm actually really looking forward to it. 1. Because I can make up some stupid costume and play pretend for a night = WICKED FUN and 2. Because I'm going to my voice teacher's house to hand out candy to the kids. I really love kids. They make me laugh! I like talking to them and rapping with them and mixing it up. They seriously know how to have fun. IT'S THEIR FREAKING JOB. Kids are professional fun havers. And us adults could learn a lot from them. And I plan to this Halloween. (Another sidenote. I miss the kids from the West End House in Allston where I used to work. They were hilarious and sooo smart! It made work pretty much the best ever. Probably the first time I fit into a 9 to 5 job...cuz I was a lot like them.)
So anyway. The good news is I have my partner in crime arriving tomorrow to distract me from my self pity. Fun will be had organically, I'm sure. Hopefully some pumpkins will be carved and candy corn eaten and laughs laughed.
Ok, I'm done complaining. That's such a lame adult thing to do anyway. It's time to take life a little lighter and have a good time. I mean this is it. This is the only life we've got! If I take it this seriously for one more day, I'm going to quit. So forget it! I can be responsible and still have fun! And I'm not determined to make it happen. I'm just going to let it be.
Here's my Top Ten list of FUN grown-up things that don't involve drinking or spending too much money:
ReplyDelete1) Bake some cookies from scratch. Eat a couple right off the pan, while they're still gooey. Then pack up the rest in baggies, tie them with ribbons, and surprise your friends and co-workers with little gifts. They will smile. You will smile. FUN!
2) Stop by a flower store and buy a bag of loose rose petals for $1. Fill up your bath tub, add a spritz of perfume, throw in the petals, and chill out in your fancy bath while listening to Judy Garland records. FUN!
3) Go through old magazines and cut out pictures of things that remind you of your friends and family. Then make your own cards and surprise the people you love with very special snail mail. FUN!
4) Find a free yoga class (check out Lululemon or local studios near you; most of them offer at least 1 free class a week) and get your OM on. FUN!
5) Invite a friend for a walk after work, and then make a big salad together for dinner. FUN!
6) Teach yourself something new. Pick something you've always wanted to try (knitting, Italian, break baking, whatever), troll the internet for instructions, and make it happen. FUN!
7) Play dress up. Empty your closet and come up with new ways to wear old clothes. Mix and match and take pictures of your favorite new ensembles. FUN!
8) Find a weekend flea market, give yourself $5 to spend, and bring home something that inspires you. FUN!
9) Volunteer for a cause that's meaningful to you. If you miss working with kids, maybe that's a place to start. You might also meet some kindred spirits in the other volunteers. FUN!
10) Write more music. It's what makes you happiest! I interviewed an author the other day who gave me this very good piece of advice: "If I waited to write until my muse arrived, I'd have written one poem in my entire life. You write when you're inspired, you write when you're tired, you write under less than ideal physical circumstances...you just write. You just do it."
LOVE YOU! I think you're tons of FUN!
-- Your favorite Grown Up
Fran (and Lauren) -- I thank you kindly for both the post and the suggestions. I've been feeling this week very much like Fran and very broke and very annoyed by my daily tasks. To see the post meant to see a commiserator who could also see the whining for what it was. And the comment to get my ass out of whining mode.
ReplyDeleteThanks ladies!
If the way things are aren't fun or good, then let yourself be wrong about the way things are. Stop thinking and attaching meaning or results to things and just let go and let truth come to you and reveal itself to you by simply raising your awareness in this present moment. All you really need right now is to breathe, everything else is bonus. You don't need trust or security right now, we need those to protect ourselves from the past- which already happened once and will never happen again. We also don't need anything from others so instead of making demands we can be free to accept the unique gifts they do offer. If you can be needless and present in the moment, the smallest things become very fun and exciting, because truthfully every moment you experience is brand new, unique, un-repeatable and happening purely for you. Being alive and experiencing right now is free, never ending fun! Stop thinking and play!
ReplyDeleteLauren - These are AMAZING!!!!! So right on. I want to try each one of them. Maybe I will do one a week. Already having more fun today because my special someone is HERE!! Love you. xo
ReplyDeleteKaren - We all do it. It's nice to fess up. Sort of freeing!
Richard- Thank you for your insight. I think fun and happiness is available to us in each moment. Being present and lightening up is the key, for sure! Thank you.
Hey, we should get our special someones together and have a foursome Skype sesh....maybe Sunday night? xoxo
ReplyDeleteThat would be FUN! Let's do it! xoxo
ReplyDeleteWe hope last night was FUN! Thanks for coming by the shop and listening.
ReplyDeleteWish we could have chilled longer. Our butts hurt. Love you guys over there! Love what you're doing. :)
ReplyDelete