Have a little fun

During the past week, I've had multiple occasions to reflect on this delightful part of being human: having fun and enjoying our capacities!  Maybe a New Year's resolution for myself will be to have more fun.  Do at least 1 fun thing per day that has no goal or end for anything other than just delighting in the act of being alive with infinite capacities and knowing it.  I went sledding and played in the snow with my nephews over Christmas.  It was a blast!  We had so much fun.  I watched the Nutcracker and delighted in the beauty of the ways a human body can move and speak with no words uttered.  I try to take intentional time each day to play with my puppy who is an absolute joy.  I delight in writing (sometimes) when the writing is free and unrestricted and not for a specific end that makes me worry about its goodness or doubt my own brilliance.  Dancing and singing are fun when you just let loose and enjoy it, not trying to impress anyone.

There are so many fun activities we can do!  Find things that make you laugh and laugh every day.  There are always things to complain about, but there are also always things to just delight and wonder in.  The cloud is in the paper, and the grandmother is in the child, and the tree is in me, and all of life is an astounding miracle of interbeing!  We have an incredible capacity as human beings to create, to bring something new into the world.  This is amazing, and we should exercise this creative capacity every chance we get.

So my advice for the new year is have fun, the kind of fun that makes your soul burst open with laughter and pure delight in whatever you just did.  Delight in the miracle of life.  Do something to shake things up; remind yourself you are alive and that is a miracle.  Create something new; learn something new, and not because  you have to, but because you can.  If you don't know how to have fun, or what to do, spend at least 30 min. playing with a child.  Let him or her be in charge.  Follow their lead and loosen up your imagination.  Try to see through their eyes.  Dream.

Some of the most developed and industrial nations are also some of the unhappiest.  I believe there is a connection.  Too much work, too much seriousness and pressure for perfection and competition, and not enough play.  People who spend time with family and friends, engage in meaningful work, rest, and play are much happier.  From my time in Latin America one of the big lessons I learned was to celebrate, and celebrate often.  So, this year I'm going to add some more play time into my days, and I invite you to join me.  We can delight in being human together!