On Fun

[jducoeur]

One highlight of the day today was the sending to Pelican vigil of Master Robyyan, an old friend from the dance community.  In his vigil book, I mentioned Rule #1, which I cite frequently these days:

Do what's Fun.
Don't do what's not Fun.

And it reminded me that people have challenged me on that several times, citing the necessity of unfun.  But I want to push back on that a bit.

Unfun can be a necessary evil, but it's less necessary than often believed.  If something is unfun, see what you can do to change that.  Sometimes that's a matter of finding the joy in what you're doing.  (For instance, the discovery of the cameraderie of doing dishes after the event for an hour.)  Sometimes it is changing the task to be more fun.  (Kobayashi Maru cheats can be a blast.)  Sometimes it's finding the person for whom it *is* fun to do it instead.  (Remember, delegation in a good thing on many levels.)  Sometimes, it's challenging your assumptions and saying, "Why are we doing this unfun thing anyway?"

And yes, occasionally you have to suck it up and just accept the unfun stoically.  But you'd be surprised how often one of the above techniques can be applied if you're willing to put some imagination into it, and how much healthier you'll be for it.

So don't just accept unfun.  Rule #1 matters - it's the heart of survival in the SCA or any other organization, and it's worth trying to live by...

Posted via LiveJournal app for Android.

Comments

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

I'm reading a book by Jayne Williams, who calls herself the Slow Fat Triathlete. It's not uncommon for people who write exercise books or articles to talk about how to make your workout fun (do it with friends, do something that feels like a hobby, such as dancing, etc), but she takes it a step back to try to figure out where the perception of physical activity as drudgery comes from. She notes that of the things we're sure our ancient ancestors did (eat, sleep, cover distances on foot, have sex), exercise is the one that a lot of people now shun. She doesn't come up with good answers about why (and amusingly points out that people who would claim that they hate to work hard or stretch or drip with sweat don't mind doing those things when they're connected with sex), but advocates re-framing things so that running/lifting/whatever count as fun, even if you have to rename parts of it, such as calling it a movement adventure instead of a workout.

[laurion]

Ben and Jerry's has a bumper sticker with exactly this sentiment: "If it's not fun, why do it?". It's veryimportant that it is phrased as a question. It implores you to actually reflect and think on it. You may reach the conclusion that it is a necessity that it be done, but again, you have at least reflected and perhaps found other options.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

This is so true. And I think it's why I eventually left the SCA. I realized that I just wasn't having the fun I'd had back when I first joined. Events felt like obligations, and I was also starting to feel like a failure for not having reached certain milestones. Expensive hobbies shouldn't leave you feeling like a failure.

[the-nita.livejournal.com]

Thank you for understanding one of my life rules.

A sense of responsibility

[unicornpearlz.livejournal.com]

And, a sense of putting others needs before my own.

That's why I do the unfun things.

But, fun is important too. :)

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

And I might mention a more specific citation of the principle, one my Silverwing's Laws:

The prime rule of Pennsic: It's your vacation, stupid!

And the corollary: It's everyone else's too. Someone has to make it happen.

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

Robbyan Tor d'Elandris? That Robbyan? I figured that was a done deal decades ago....