Can you confidently say you’re someone who has fun regularly? Or are you running on empty when it comes to entertainment, distracted by all work with no time for play? To live your healthiest, happiest life, a generous sprinkling of fun is a must.
In journalist Catherine Price’s recent TED talk, she shared some fun-focused advice. She explained that in our modern world, with so much time spent scrolling on social media, sending emails and staring at the screen, it’s become harder to truly feel alive.
It’s become standard practice to stay busy until the point of exhaustion, and Catherine feels it’s high time for that to change. Her solution is simple: It’s time to have more fun.
Many think they’re already experiencing fun in their everyday lives, but they haven’t got the dictionary definition quite right. Fun isn’t an activity; it’s a feeling. It’s the lifted state you can remember when you’re asked to reflect and recount joyful, treasured moments from your past. And it doesn’t arrive when people thrive – it causes them to thrive.
According to Catherine, fun is “radiant”, creating a visceral sense of light and joy. It’s made up of three factors – playfulness, connection and flow. They create a truly “fun” experience when they all come together.
Having fun regularly helps you to be more present. More united with others. It brings you joy, and in turn, it makes you healthier. It’s a scientific fact that emotions like loneliness and stress affect your hormones and increase your risk level for contracting certain diseases and illnesses. Fun-loving folk are more relaxed and socially connected, so the opposite happens, and the risk level is decreased.
As for how you have more fun? Catherine suggests ignoring the strange suggestions you see in magazines, like “roast a turkey”, and instead focusing on those three key ingredients. Playfulness. Connection. Flow. Reduce distractions, interact with others more often and make an effort to treat fun like it matters. Because it does.
We highly recommend this TED talk if you want to change your lifestyle, increasing your health and happiness simultaneously. We’ll definitely be taking Catherine’s sage advice on board.
