With the summer solstice recently passed, we’re now officially in summer, the most yang, high-energy time of the year. During these long days of sunshine and warm summer evenings, we get to enjoy time in and on water, long evening walks, celebrations with family and friends, fresh local fruits and vegetables, and all sorts of play and games. Summer, for most of us, is a time that we associate with fun—even if it’s an idea that we carry from childhood. Yet, as I’ve been thinking a lot about fun, play and pleasure this past month, I wonder, as adults, how many of us are actually having summertime fun? 

The Oxford Dictionary defines fun as “enjoyment, amusement, or lighthearted pleasure,” as in: “the children were having fun in the play area.” 

It’s interesting, and expected, that the sentence used in the dictionary to describe fun referenced children and not adults. We’re always talking about kids having fun—that unscripted, imaginative play—yet, as a society focused so much on productivity and success, there are few conversations taking place about the importance of fun, play and simple pleasures that focus on adults, which is what journalist Catherine Price sought to uncover and encourage in her book, published in early 2024, The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again.

The Power of Fun 

In The Power of Fun, Price makes the assertion that if we’re not having fun, we’re not fully living. She also contends that fun is critical to our wellbeing, and that real happiness lies in the everyday experience of fun. Yet, as adults, we may think of fun as indulgent, or even immature or selfish, and believe that we don’t have time for it. She also asserts that as a culture, we engage in what she calls “fake fun”— “binging on television, doom-scrolling the news, or posting photos to social media, all in hopes of filling some of the emptiness we feel inside.” 

However, Price believes that when we engage in “true fun,” defined as “the magical confluence of playfulness, connection and flow,” we’ll get that fulfillment and contentment (for more on contentment, please read last month’s blog post, Practicing Contentment: Create Spaciousness to Be with the Treasures Already Here) that we are all truly seeking. By engaging in what brings us true fun, Price believes that we’ll be happier and healthier, more productive and less resentful, have more energy and less stress, and start flourishing in our lives, all while enjoying the process. And, importantly, she says that fun is a state in which we experience playfulness, connection to others, and flow—that feeling when you lose track of time because you are in the zone and not worried about how you look or how well you perform. 

In this perfectionist-driven world in which we so often feel pressure to look, perform and use time a certain way, I think all of us could use more of that fun state! 

Develop a Practice of Playfulness 

We all want joy in our lives, as joy helps us feel most alive and present in the moment that we are in. And, any of us that engage in any kind of practice—be that meditation or yoga or something else that requires commitment, dedication and regular consistency—know that the practice is the process, and only by engaging in it regularly can we strengthen it. For adults who want more joy and play in our lives—who want to have more fun—we must make play a practice so that it, too, can become a habit and something that we turn to regularly, knowing that it’s good for our hearts, health and happiness. 

I was recently listening to kids playing near me at the lake and was thinking about how when I was growing up, going out to play and to have fun was just expected. In a sense, those summertime days out exploring and creating games were our practice! But for many of us now, play is dampened down and we may even resist fun. We may, instead, be conditioned to strive for money, success and power, all of which arguably create enormous amounts of stress and pressure for us, while having fun requires no money, success or power to have. And, with less stress and a less busy mind, we are more productive when we return to our work and responsibilities. 

As I watched those kids at play, I was transported back to being a kid myself in the summer. I loved hanging out with friends in the neighborhood, making up creative stories for my Barbie dolls (my BFF and I enacted many scenes with them as pioneer women traveling by covered wagon out West), riding bikes, and having so much fun that we’d roll our eyes when we were called back inside at the end of the day. That timelessness play was part of the summertime magic—right along with fireflies, the heat of the sun, and ice cream!—and it was a beautiful, lighthearted, life-enhancing daily practice. 

Being In Joyment 

Perhaps now, we feel that only kids should—or even can—really have fun because, as adults, on top of all of our aspirations and responsibilities, we also carry around much suffering and sadness, perhaps within ourselves and/or for the people in our orbit, along with so many others, including animals and even Mother Nature herself. This might keep us feeling constricted; however, lessening our joy won’t bring others happiness. Rather, increasing it and spreading it is the key. 

Being “in joyment” (my new favorite phrase) helps us infuse fun and joy into the lives of all those we meet and engage with. Most of us know someone who just seems to spread sunshine, who we always feel a little bit lighter after spending time with. The same can be true for each of us, especially if we allow ourselves to figure out what really lights us up and commit to spending time with those things every day. We can be mindful of the suffering of others and the world AND also try, as best we can, to be a source of lightness and play, bringing expansive joy into our hearts and into the lives of others. In this way, we are expanding the joy that is within ourselves while spreading it all around us. 

How To Have More Fun

While the idea of bringing more play and fun into your life may sound really great, you might wonder where to start, or even what it is that you actually enjoy doing. Here’s where a few journal prompts can help you get going. Feel free to spend as little or as much time as you feel called to with each question or prompt. Maybe go through the list quickly and write out the first things that come to mind. And, then return again a little later to reflect on each question with curiosity and an open mind and open heart. Allow yourself to play with these prompts and even get a little outrageous. Just go with what feels good and follow what lights you up. 

Journal Prompts 

What currently brings you joy?

What has brought you joy in the past? 

List out all of the things that bring you enjoyment, pleasure, fun. These can be as simple as spending quiet time by a river or as big as ziplining or roller coasters! 

Who do you have fun with? 

How can you invite these people into more of your summertime fun? 

What do you enjoy doing for fun/pleasure/in-joyment when you’re alone? 

Are there specific places you associate with fun? Maybe that’s lakes, hiking trails, amusement parks, ball fields…

Can you plan for some time in these places? 

And, to really sharpen the focus for playfulness and fun, what do you want to cultivate this summer to have more fun and bring an extra dose of play into the next big, bright three months? 

Turn Toward Fun 

When we point ourselves in the direction of our joy, with intentions wrapped around us and a clear sense of what we want to celebrate and why, we move, breath- by-breath, into the future with a degree of excitement. We have clarity about what we are moving toward and that which we want to celebrate. Allow yourself to have more fun, and let this summer be about something that is for your betterment, and possibly the betterment of those around you.

Have fun! 

With love and in-joy, 
Karen

If you’re interested in beginning, reconnecting with or deepening your meditation practice in community, I offer an online, donation-based meditation class/guided practice every other Monday night 7:30-8:30pm EST in a relaxed and warm setting on Zoom. The only requirement is an interest in increasing mindful awareness and skills through practice and growing your inner wisdom. Get more details and register here.

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