Fun is Intrinsic

When I was young, I could spend hours playing with toy cars. I would imagine scenarios involving racing and chases. I’d build out a villain and hero, develop a full heroes journey story. Then I would make up dialogue on the fly, sometimes my imaginary characters would even have accents. And I could and did live in this make-belief world for hours.

I didn’t do any of that for some greater purpose. I wasn’t making any money doing that. Nor was I consciously developing a skill that I would one day exploit for profit. I was simply having fun.

Fun came naturally, in the form of play. Most of life as a child is pretty restricting, “you can’t do this,” “you can’t go there,” “don’t step into oncoming traffic on a busy street,” things like that.

Around every corner, there was something you weren’t supposed to do. And if you did it and were caught, there was someone ready to tell you off.

Despite those restrictions we always found ways to find fun.

Then, in a gradual manner, as most things do, I stopped playing. I stopped having fun for fun sake. Life got in the way, goals became my main focus, and responsibilities started to take hold.

Some call this becoming an adult, others might say this is the loss of childhood. They’re really saying the same thing. This isn’t Kansas anymore.

The truth is that we find fun in different ways now. Fun didn’t go away, it simply shifted form. When I think about having fun for fun sake, I think it happens far less frequently. The activities we find fun in adulthood are often associated with extrinsic motivations. That isn’t necessarily bad, just different.

I hope you take time this weekend to do something fun, something really fun, intrinsically fun, for old time sake.