Forgotten Little Pleasures

Long days of work with little time to myself,  let alone my family or friends, I wondered how life adhered to monotony in such a strong manner that the little joys in life was like a drop of water in the ocean.Fun is a small generic word with a diverse emotion that resonates with each one of us. It is an emotion that is taken so much for granted it remains insignificant in our lives.

The synonym of Fun is listed as  “light hearted pleasure” I wonder though, if in today’s world we know what light hearted pleasure truly means. Is fun spending a lot of money, energy and time into an activity, or is it just sitting with a book and cup of tea on the porch listening to the rains?

Fun, pleasure or passion in life is defined by oneself, such as beliefs and values. In the eagerness to get a better understanding of what fun meant to me, I asked myself -  ‘When do I have fun?’ or even “Do I have fun?” The first thought that struck me was an image of me with my near and dear ones – but nothing beyond that. I even asked a few people the same question and realized they were as dumbfounded by the question as I was.

I read somewhere that the events and activities we enjoyed during our childhood are often what we enjoy after we become adults too.  As a child, I never thought about what defined fun or even if I had fun, because my life was fun. Playing “cricket” with an exam writing pad and paper crumpled and bound into a ball or reading comics all day long or even watch TV – even if it was an English/Hindi show dubbed in a regional language all resonated with me as fun.

In our urgency as children to grow up into adults hoping we would be the decision makers, we often not only outgrow our childhood pleasures but also many light hearted elements of life. During our childhood, seldom do we realize the amount of control society and family continue to impose on us, even after a long treacherous journey in adulthood. In our hectic lives already filled with so many shenanigans, fun seems too trivial to be concerned about missing out on.

Coming back to my question about my idea of fun - I personally related it to being with people who are easy and positive. However, I could not precisely say – this is my definition of fun. What was that thing that I thoroughly enjoyed doing - Because even if I am with the best of people, there are a lot of things I just don’t enjoy doing – like getting on roller coaster rides.  Clearly one obstacle solved – I know what I did not have fun being part of.

I thought about all the things that I did during my childhood that I still enjoyed doing. Those things that I don’t do anymore because of the dearth of time and energy us adults often face. The first thought that struck me was a beach and that made me realize how much I enjoy spending time in/near/around a water body. I thought further and landed on Nature and how the love for it has never faded but only made me grow immensely fond of trips to the zoo, aquariums and parks.

Thinking back, as children the main reason we preferred spending time with our grandparents was because they experience their second childhood at the same time where they dedicate their life to light hearted pleasures such as storytelling and playing board games.

It is a boon if each one of us can identify what we define as fun for ourselves and can try and live life with a little light hearted pleasure on a daily basis. To me, writing this piece of blog after ages was fun.

Fun has a definition that I coined- “it is anything that makes you smile when you think of it, makes you look forward to do it and helps you live a life that you’ve always imagined”

We have come to realize in the world we live in, fun us not an element to be taken for granted, but rather to be able to pay more attention to for a more fulfilling livelihood.

A little ‘fun’ every day not only makes us feel happier and accomplished but also connects us back to something we wish we could go back to - our childhood.