The importance of having fun

having fun photo

Wow! I read this article from Psychology today called The Importance of Play: Having Fun Must be Taken Seriously. It basically concluded that many violent shooters were “play deprived”. Apparently being able to have fun and play is a matter of life and death.

I sometimes wonder about people who don’t play and have fun. For example I see many parents who have their kids on a highly regulated schedule. After the after school activities they might have 2 hours of homework, dinner and then bed. I am glad that was not my childhood. I watched a touching documentary from The importance of having fun by Morgan Spurlock called Inside Man on Netflix where he profiles different things. He visited a school in Iceland and what a wonderful amazing educational experience it was. They had the highest level of skill and the education was also fun. I was so jealous that I wished I could have had that experience.

It is interesting isn’t it? As a society we work to acquire things, experiences, tools, yet how much of our live is actually enjoyed? Why do all the hard work and go through the pain of things if we do not have fun? It is almost like our society even though it enjoys short-term things like food, sex, possessions, can’t enjoy things just as they are. I am not advocating living a certain way, just asking how much fun you can have with things you need to buy or possess? Many people monks, hermits or others find happiness/fun not in material things but just in simple living.

I find it fascinating that when I have worked with rich people and helped them with their computer issues, how depressed many of them are. All of those things you would think would make you happy don’t seem to help. In fact for many of them they comes with new fears: fear of losing their money, fear of no real friendships, fear of dying alone. Capitalism isn’t bad, it is just incomplete. If we could have something like a Meritism. We live on life based on things that have scientific and personal merit, and let go of things that don’t help us. I have found that questioning everyday my choices helps me to focus on what really makes me happy. Perhaps the same might help you.

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