Spontaneity

As we become grownups (Oh no! Did I really just type that outloud?) sometimes spontaneity goes by the wayside. "I can't, I have to work," "I can't, I have the kids," "I can't, I have a mortgage," etc., etc., etc. Responsibility can be important. Certainly I'm not advocating running amok until you've lost your house, job, kids, cat, whatever's important to you. But it's also important that you aren't so responsible you can't remember the last time you truly enjoyed that cat. That's where spontaneity comes into play. That's where not washing your dishes until the next morning so you can play a game of Twister (with your cat) comes into play. Or taking off on an impromptu road trip without telling anyone where you're going and turning off all modes of communication comes into play. That's exactly what the bf and I did for a dayish this past weekend. While the level of responsibility the bf and I take could be debated, we are without a doubt dependable. If anyone needs anything or has any kind of celebration we're there. And while the celebration part is usually a great deal of fun it doesn't always promote proper spontaneity. It was so freeing to do something we wanted to do simply because we wanted to do it. Without any sense of obligation. And that my friends is what spontaneity can do for you. And what I will be incorporating much more into my life.

Fun Buster:

I'll recognize that there is some potential for fun in this. For instance if you didn't have to go into your office and could work from home in your pjs, knock it out in a matter of a couple hours and then head off to the beach for the rest of the day. I would consider that to be fun from time to time (or all the time). But unfortunately it seems to less that and more the gateway drug to Workaholics Anonymous (from here on out WHA). Now, unless you don't have a computer at home there is no excuse not to answer emails right away or work on projects that would otherwise never leave the office.

To be honest the first time I had Go To My PC on the job I was completely freaked out by it. I couldn't get over how I could literally turn my at home laptop into my at work desktop and there was no discernible difference (other than speed). It took me awhile to work up the courage to actually use it. And even then I did so rarely. As might be apparent by this blog I'm not a workaholic and am in staunch refusal to participate in such shenanigans. From my experience, workaholics stress themselves out to the point of future heart attacks while accomplishing less than their Type B counterparts (And here is one research study-amongst others-to back it up.). I did use it from time to time but was really turned off when I'd get into work the next day and find emails from co-workers the next morning sent off at 3 in the morning. No wonder they were crabby most of the time!

And so I am now against anything that encourages workaholics to compromise their physical health and mental and emotional sanity for the sake of subpar productivity, especially when they then try to force that crap down the rest of our throats. We won't even get into iphones.

A Man After My Own Heart

If I had made a video first I would have done it exactly like this:

Stacking Rocks

While on a bike ride on the bike path from Culver City, CA to Marina del Rey, CA I came across these:

Remembering (or simply making it up in my head and calling it remembering) something about rock stacking being a sacred practice I wanted to know more about it and so I turned to google. I found a few things that alluded to rock stacking as being a spiritual practice but little to no elaboration and so being way too boring to read any further, I gave up. Overall it seems to be a practice that some people do for fun, either as a spiritual practice or simply to challenge themselves. While it isn't my chosen way to have fun I'm glad others are doing what they enjoy most. And because of them I'll continue to enjoy random rock statues on my bike rides.

I'm Not the Only One

Sometimes when you get into a routine and it seems as though everyone around you is caught up in a similar routine and no one's winning an Olympic medal for it, you forget that you aren't the only who has a different vision of what the world can be. I was reminded of my fun mission today when I saw the following video:



Kevin Richardson's idea is akin to an idea I've had about law enforcement and how ineffective it is. We have a million police officers whom everyone is afraid of and yet I'd dare to guess pretty much everyone breaks the law in some tiny or humungous way on at least a monthly basis. Obviously something isn't working. Why not borrow from the little elementary school classroom management behavioral technique of ignoring bad behavior and rewarding good behavior? Now I'm not saying we turn a blind eye to violent criminals but as Kevin demonstrated in his video people are more likely to behave in a societally accepted manner when there's something in it for them. My idea was passing out ice cream coupons to people obeying laws but I like Kevin's too!

And another thing I really liked about this video is its association with thefuntheory.com, which is "dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better." I agree completely and it was just the inspiration I needed to know that I'm on the right track and the world can be improved through fun.

Most Fun Video Game EVER!

Now I am not a video game fan. I've enjoyed me some Atari and Sega Genesis (mostly Sonic the Hedgehog)over the years but for the most part I SUCK at video games. Like even when someone's telling me to push A to punch, my guy's still kicking. I have quite a bit of hand-eye, foot-eye coordination when it comes to sports but when it comes to pushing buttons to coordinate someone or something else's coordination I can't do it. Which is fine with me. But one game that has endured the test of time and I may perhaps be world champion at is the funnest video game in the world: Tetris! It's also the most addictive and probably should be placed as banned on my computer so I don't waste any more time in my life.

Grammar Girl

It's been challenging to come up with any funness when working on projects/papers for school I really don't care much about other than finishing them so I can get a good grade. But I did manage to come up with one and that is the Grammar Girl website. I can be a bit of a grammar junkie so while I've heard of the site I hadn't had to use it yet but today when I got a bit confused with the good ol' semi colon I popped on over there and had a grand time. I'd highly recommend her for all your grammar needs.

Elliptical Machines

I do not find gyms in any way fun. Running or biking on something that isn't actually going somewhere really bores me. 'Course I am quite spoiled since I live in a location where I'm able to thoroughly enjoy outdoors activities all year round (although you can ski, snowboard, and snowshoe in the snow all winter). But I suppose if you do find gym equipment fun and need some sun in your life I saw elliptical-like machines at a park I was biking by the other day. Unfortunately I have no idea how to get to the park other than from the bike path I was on...

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

But not always in an airheady, we can't play sports or think with our brains kind of way. This post is inspired by yet another coed soccer match where a guy made a sexist comment. To get my rant out of the way since that isn't what this blog is about one, why are you playing in a COED league if you think girls are inferior and you don't want to play with them? And two, honestly, the majority of the girls are way better and have played at a way higher level than you. Sorry, I have low tolerance for the male ego. Or perhaps a high tolerance and after awhile it boils over.

Now that I got that out I can move onto the fun part. Which is relevant whether you're a gal or a dude (with an ego or not). Fun is often conceptualized as something to do when we aren't working on serious things. And serious things are more highly valued in our society. Oh, those Puritans! They're work ethic is HILARIOUS! Hilarious because it appears that those who are most successful in their careers followed their passions, truly love what they do, and are having a damn fantastic time doing it even if they're addressing "serious" issues. And they aren't wasting their time. They're using their brains, creativity, talents and skills. And frequently the world benefits from their fun. Think Bill Gates, dude from Facebook (whose name I should know because I use facebook and saw the movie), the Dalai Lama, U2, Oprah. Many of these people are also closely scrutinized and criticized but I think that's more out of jealousy than anything. Perhaps if we all made doing what we most enjoy more of a priority we wouldn't have a thing to be jealous about?

Brushing My Teeth

This may seem like a fun stretch to some and really I can't make an argument that the actual brushing of the teeth is fun. But there's nothing like the feeling of freshly cleaned teeth. Even if I've been out late and had perhaps a few too many to drink I make sure my teeth are brushed before I go to bed. Sometimes I don't even remember this. But I'm always grateful the next morning.