Are you FUN blocking yourself?

I actually want to know, when was the last time you let your hair down and had fun?

It’s something that I never thought of a lot as an adult. I reserved play for kids and succumb to the idea that fun and play were a luxury of childhood. That as an adult, I had to earn the right for fun.

Funny thing is… as a kid, I concerned acting older as fun. And as an adult, I stopped prioritizing fun all together.

Read ahead to see what reminded me of this concept.

Rushing to Grow Up

Last week, my little cousins were in, visiting my parents. My 12-year-old cousin was snuggled up playing games on the iPad as I talked with, my dad. We were talking about how bad our adult acne had been.

My cousin perked up…. “I had a pimple once” he exclaimed.

“Really” I said, choking back giggles? “Where?”

He was all excited to point out where he once had a pimple. You could see how proud he was to have a sign that he was growing up….

Was there really a pimple? We may never know. BUT, it got me thinking about how fast we all rushed to grow up.

You can see this divide in the siblings. The older ones making fun of the younger ones for being “little” or “being younger”. We rush to grow up and try on adulthood for size.

The Last Time…

There is a last time for everything. The last time we picked up a doll… The last time we played tag… The last time we played ANYTHING. We rush to grow up. We rush to drop the freedom of play and the liberty to let loose.

Growing up, we wore responsibility (and apparently pimples) like a badge. We were all taught, hard work equaled success. We blindly agreed to take on stress to be titled “responsible” or “worthy” of our dream life.

Fun as a Treat

As an adult, I started viewing fun as a reward instead of a necessary part of life.

Have a successful week at work? I deserve to have fun…
Have a stressful day? I guess I deserve a treat... ‘A beer will help me relax.’

Fun became something that I looked forward to on a Friday at 5 or Saturday afternoon (after chores are done). Fun and lightheartedness can be had on vacation.

What used to come so naturally as a child, can now be difficult to find. Could I really only let loose 2 weeks out of the year?

Fun Blocking

If you are like me, and you use fun as a reward instead of a right, you are blocking yourself.

You are blocking yourself. You are telling the Universe, you don’t want fun because you don’t deserve the fun.

Can you hear how ridiculous you sound? You don’t deserve fun? You don’t deserve happiness?

What is wrong with us?

Brene Brown brings up this idea of “exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth…” in her book “The Gifts of Imperfection”. We forget that our self-worth isn’t tied to our net worth.

In our Western society, we have been raised with this blue-collar mindset (get-r-done)…. But what are we chasing? And if we catch it, will we be happy or will we be too tired to enjoy it?

Also are we afraid that we will be judged by being silly or letting loose?

Space for Play

Us not playing/relaxing/letting loose/ having a good time is actually hurting us.

The constant go-getter mentality is causing our body to be in a constant state of busy. That constant state of busy lowers our vibration, takes us out of the present moment, and eliminates listening to our intuition (or inner voice).

Dr.Stuart Brown is a clinical researcher and founder of the National Institute for Play. He is quoted saying, “the opposite of play is not the work— the opposite of play is depression.”

I invite you to lay down the constant go-getter mentality and create space for play.

Inviting Fun Into Your Day

Now, you may be saying, ‘I don’t have time for fun’. I call bullshit, you can scroll social media for endless hours… Rework your time!

But first, you have to know what does fun and play look like as an adult.

If fun is still playing with hotwheels than by all means, build the best damn hotwheel track the world has ever seen….

But, it’s likely you don’t know what fun is as an adult…. Fun shifts as you grow. As a kid, it’s playing pretend. As a teenager, it’s hanging out with friends. As a young adult, it may be going out to bars. But as a tired ‘almost thirty' year old’, fun looks much different.

What is Fun?

Here are a few journaling exercises to get your fun muscle going… And if you’re having a hard time relating to the word ‘fun’, swap it for a word that resonates with you… Examples: joy, happiness, relaxing, easy, etc.

Journal Prompts:

What does fun (or joy) mean to you?
When is the last time you had fun/joy?
Do you experience fun/joy every day?
What is one thing you can do every day to welcome in more fun?

If this is resonating with you, I invite you to join the membership! For the month of June, we are deep diving into the concept of fun. I planned yoga-inspired classes and workshops to invite more fun into your every day and to strengthen your fun muscle!

Learn more