Good times

The Paddingtonian

I had an epiphany on the dance floor of the Paddo RSL recently. Dressed in 1980s aerobics gear for a school trivia night turned dance party, I was bouncing around, belting out Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, when I realised I was the girl having fun. 

Organically certified, can’t-wipe-the smile-off-my-face, fun.

And here’s the real kicker: that same week was the most challenging I’d had in years. I had dragged myself to the event, physically and emotionally floored from curveball after curveball, and yet I walked home from the RSL buzzing. Fun flicked a powerful switch. While it didn’t diminish the reality of my problems, it miraculously empowered me with a new capacity to deal with them.

That night I realised fun isn’t the fluffy 'bonus extra' at the end of my to-do list. It’s an intrinsic part of our human design that can multitask alongside the big-gun feelings such as stress and grief and bring us back into connection, creativity and flow.

Fun isn’t a luxury we have to earn, it’s the necessary endorphin rush that can, quite literally, alter the chemistry of our days.

For most of my adult life, I’ve wildly underestimated the importance of fun. It would be easy to blame the pandemic for our increasing seriousness. But for many of us, the lockdowns reignited the neighbourhood games we played as kids and the kind of home-grown entertainment that comes from a lack of outside resources and a pack of UNO cards.

The whole point of fun is that is has no point. There is no measurable outcome, branding opportunity or job promotion on the other side of an RSL dance floor.

Slowly and quietly during the past decade, we started taking the fun out of fun: our hobbies turned into side hustles and good times were something we bought in and posted on Instagram. There’s a reason why people now distinguish between 'fake fun' and 'real fun'.

In his book Play, researcher Stuart Brown concludes the opposite of play is not work, it’s depression. As our days continue to lighten up during the coming months, maybe it’s our cue to do the same?

The best part about fun as a grown-up is that it’s like riding a bike: a few pedals in, you’re back in the flow. And if you feel wobbly, don’t worry — a pair of leg-warmers and a fluoro headband will do the trick.