Fun

[jelazakazone]

I had a realization yesterday that I don't really know what "fun" means. What does it mean to you, to have fun? I am looking for abstractions here, not examples of what is fun.

How does fun feel? What makes fun, fun? Is there something wrong with me if I can't have fun? (I think I'm having some fun here as I'm starting to feel a little giggly

Comments

[celandineb]

I'm not sure I know what "fun" means, myself!

Um... for me, maybe, being able to enjoy something in the moment, without having part of my brain thinking ahead or otherwise evaluating what's going on.

[jelazakazone]

Is that enough to define something as fun or does there have to be something more? I'm just thinking out loud here. I don't have an answer. In particular, I'm thinking about my process with quilting and how I can get totally absorbed in it and I love it, but somehow it doesn't seem like the definition of "fun", if you know what I mean. Dancing and singing seem to fit that definition more naturally to me.

[celandineb]

Hm, contrast there between "enjoyment" and "fun," maybe? I know a lot of people would probably think of fun as needing to be relatively active, perhaps involving activities that are special in some way. I'm not sure that's true for me though... but I've long suspected that my emotional responses generally are not very typical.

Fun, and Joy

[dampscribbler]

Fun is when I'm in the moment. I've lost track of my complaints and disappointments and aches and pains and I'm enjoying exactly what's happening right now. Fun is when I am doing things with other people, and while the memory of it may last, the fun itself is immediate and temporary.

Joy is when I'm in the moment -- I've let go of my expectations and concerns and am focused on a task that may be very difficult and challenging. Maybe I experience that as fun or maybe I don't. Joy is usually something I experience alone (my introversion may be a part of that). Joy transcends time. It is immediate and also ongoing.

Thanks for the question, I need that this morning.

Re: Fun, and Joy

[jelazakazone]

Interesting that you bring joy into the equation. So, for you, joy and fun are equivalent experiences but one is experienced in isolation while the other is social?

What about ecstatic experiences (which is where I would place joy, personally)?

Re: Fun, and Joy

[dampscribbler]

Ecstatic is a degree of joy. Birthing was a joyful, and ultimately ecstatic, experience.

Another thing about fun -- kids love having fun and playing. It doesn't come naturally to me like it does for Maggie. She's always giggling about stuff and making games of everything and getting fun and even joy out of silly games. That used to kind of piss me off, that in order to get her out the door in the morning I had to play some "putting on the shoes" game that was fun. I didn't want to have fun, I wanted to get out the door. I finally realized that I had a certain attachment to not having fun that I needed to give up.

[aome]

You don't have fun when you dance?

[jelazakazone]

Well, if things are going well, yes, dancing is fun. And so is singing. But in everyday life, I think I could use some work in the fun department. Although I do usually find a certain amount of satisfaction in daily life. I just wanted to talk about fun and see what other people thought.