What is Fun?

 <Desmond>  Hey, we are going to try something new, and have fun doing it.  The next session will be held in person at a new location.  Please contact me if you need information about the location.  The host is our regular attendee Wes and his wife Alice.  He has prepared the following summary of the topic.  Considering the great success of our last meeting which involved sharing our summer reading lists (I've read a couple of the shared titles already, and have loved them!) this one should be a similar affair.  Enjoy!  <end>

<Wes>  What is fun? How can someone recognize when they are having fun? How can someone identify what might be fun to them?

 [Gemini]"Fun" is a subjective and multifaceted concept that generally refers to light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, amusement, or entertainment. It's often associated with playful, engaging, and often boisterous activities that bring about a sense of happiness and well-being.

Here's a breakdown of what "fun" entails and how to recognize and identify it:

What is Fun?

• Enjoyment and Amusement: At its core, fun is about experiencing positive emotions like joy, amusement, and pleasure.
• Playfulness: It often involves a sense of playfulness, a willingness to be silly, and a lighthearted approach to activities, without focusing too much on outcomes or mastery.
• Engagement and Immersion (Flow): When having fun, people often enter a state of "flow," where they are fully immersed and focused on the activity, losing track of time and external worries.
• Novelty and Excitement: Fun can be stimulated by new, unusual, or surprising circumstances, as the brain releases dopamine in response to novelty, creating pleasurable feelings.
• Social Connection: For many, fun is enhanced when shared with others, fostering stronger social ties and a sense of shared experience.
• Freedom from Stress: Fun acts as a buffer against stress, helping people to relax, unwind, and temporarily escape routines and preoccupations.

It's important to distinguish fun from "funny." While "funny" refers to something that causes laughter or amusement (often comical), "fun" signifies the state of experiencing pleasure and enjoyment.

How Can Someone Recognize When They Are Having Fun?

Recognizing when you're having fun often involves a combination of emotional, physical, and cognitive cues:

• Emotional Cues:
• Positive Feelings: You feel happy, joyful, lighthearted, amused, and content.
• Reduced Stress/Anxiety: A sense of ease and a lack of stress, boredom, or anxiety.
• Excitement/Enthusiasm: You feel energized rather than tired, with a sense of enthusiasm for the activity.
• Physical Cues:
• Laughter and Smiles: You might find yourself genuinely laughing or smiling.
• Relaxation: Your body feels relaxed and at ease.
• Increased Energy: You might feel a surge of positive energy.
• Cognitive Cues:
• Time Flies: You lose track of time, as if hours pass in minutes ("time flies when you're having fun").
• Immersion/Focus: You are fully engaged and absorbed in the activity, with a heightened sense of focus.
• Desire to Continue: You want the experience to last longer or to repeat it in the future.
• Creativity: Fun can stimulate creativity and open up your mind.
• Reduced Self-Consciousness: You might feel less self-conscious and more willing to be spontaneous or even silly.

By paying attention to these internal and external signals, you can become more attuned to when you are genuinely experiencing fun.

How Can Someone Identify What Might Be Fun to Them?

Identifying what might be fun to you is a process of self-exploration and experimentation. Here are some strategies:

1. Reflect on Past Experiences:
• Childhood Activities: Think back to what you loved doing for fun as a child or teenager. Often, these activities still hold a spark of joy, even in a more grown-up form.
• Recent Moments of Joy: Recall specific instances in your adult life when you felt genuinely happy, engaged, and lighthearted. What were you doing? Who were you with? What was the environment like?
• "Oh my goodness! That was so much fun!" moments: What experiences made you walk away with that feeling? What made them fun, and how long did the feeling last?
2. Explore Your Curiosity:
• What interests you? What topics, hobbies, or skills are you curious about learning more about or trying? Don't censor yourself; sometimes, unexpected interests can lead to surprising fun.
• Try New Things: Don't be afraid to try activities you haven't considered before. You won't know if something is fun until you experience it firsthand. Attend a friend's hobby group, take a beginner's class, or explore a new part of your city.
3. Consider Different Types of Fun:
• Active vs. Passive: Do you prefer active fun (sports, dancing) or more passive enjoyment (reading, watching a movie)?
• Social vs. Solitary: Do you have more fun with others, or do you find joy in solitary activities?
• Challenging vs. Relaxing: Do you enjoy activities that challenge you (learning a new skill, solving a puzzle) or those that are purely relaxing and stress-free?
4. Practice Self-Awareness and Experimentation:
• "Brain Dump": Dedicate 5-10 minutes to simply list anything that comes to mind when you think, "What do I love?" or "What do I enjoy?" Don't judge or censor; just write.
• Schedule "Fun Time": Just as you schedule work or appointments, intentionally put "fun" activities on your calendar. This makes it a priority and increases the likelihood of engaging in them.
• Embrace Imperfection: Don't pressure yourself to find "The Thing" that is fun. Many people have dozens of different fun activities throughout their lives. It's okay to "suck at stuff and enjoy it anyway." The goal is enjoyment, not mastery.
• Tune into Your Body: As you engage in different activities, pay attention to how your body feels. Do you feel light, energized, or relaxed? Noticing these physical sensations can help you identify what truly resonates as fun.

By actively reflecting, exploring, and being open to new experiences, you can cultivate a deeper understanding of what brings you joy and infuse more fun into your life.

Reading List

 I often draw upon books that I read for personal pleasure for ideas for Big Questions.  I read a book a week, sometimes more, and with so many to choose from the ideas I glean can be all over the map.  As I sit here intending to create the blog for this week's BQ I am struck by the wide range of topics and genera's of the books I have read recently, and how their topics are so diverse.  

For example, I just finished a book called Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.  In this book the hero is a physicist who works on the Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, especially the aspect that every decision we make creates an infinite number of possible alternate realities.  He creates a machine that allows himself and others to go into a quantum state and experience the other realities, with the annoying side effect that every time he makes a decision, both he (presumably the original one), and another one of himself is created.  Ultimately there are hundreds of him trying to kill each other so they can be the only one to claim and live with his original wife and son, whom they all love (because the original one did).  You can watch this one on Apple TV+ if you like to see it on the screen.

Another is called Midnight at Soap Lake, by Matthew Sullivan.  The author is a past instructor at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, which is just down the road from Soap Lake, Washington.  He is also a friend of my cousin, who recommended the book and was also an instructor at Big Bend.  Anyway, the story involves a spooky and scary story about the mysterious death of a young woman from Soap Lake, and the discovery of the murder by the key character in the story, a woman whose husband is studying the very peculiar biology of Soap Lake, a stagnant body of highly salinized water whose healing powers for things like skin diseases and the like is legend.  I have heard about this magical healing power all my life, although I have not dipped my toe into the waters.  The "bad monster" in the story is called TreeTop, so naturally I expected some chemical like Alar that the company Tree Top was accused of using on apple trees 30 years ago to make an appearance, but there is no such connection in the book.  The story includes a discussion of the diversion of the Columbia River into irrigation canals in central WA and the unintended effects this caused on the hydrology of the region, a topic I am well familiar with.  It is well written and has a good pace, and I recommend it.  He also wrote Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, which takes place in Denver, and also deals with a suicide and a couple of murders, if you like that sort of thing.  It was a bit gory in places.

I'm waiting for the next installments of the Three Pines series by Louise Penny, and the Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, both due out in September.   The Thursday Murder Club's first book is about to be released as a series, with big name stars in the key roles.  I'm hoping it lives up to my imagination as I read the book.

 OK, so what I thought might be fun, as a sort of alternate to typical BQ topic is to talk about the books we read, why we like the ones we like, and what turns us off the ones we don't like.  Hey, this is summer and we all like to read escapist novels in the summer, right?  Well, I do.  you can bring your book with you for all of us to see.  If you want.

See you on Friday.