Healing Using Fun

If you are here, you may have already read the October 20201 edition of The Leader’s Oracle, if not, you can access it here. 

In it, I mention a recent healing lesson (really, a reminder): heal with fun. The world feels more intense than ever before and a great healing practice is to push ourselves to hold up the paradox: the heavy, life & death stakes AND the light, airy joy and fun. 

Here’s a small way this has transpired for me: I started bicycle riding again! Nothing competitive or serious, it’s just for the fun, and the exercise. I don’t have the fancy gizmos and gadgets, just a little pouch for snacks and my helmet. Did you know there are special shorts with extra padding on the booty?! This might be a worthy investment because the seat is starting to hurt!

I remember riding bikes as a kid but once the high school pressures of grades and college set in, most of my childhood joys went out the window (except for coloring—more on that in a separate blog). 

A few years ago I thought I would get my old bike from my mom’s and somehow bring it back to life and make it good enough to ride even though it was decades old. Never happened. I couldn’t fit it in my little car. I didn’t know where to take it to get fixed. Was there such a thing as a “tune-up” for bikes? Turns out the answer to that is yes. Who knew? Plus riding on NYC streets on a bike seemed scary. I grew up here. I know perfectly well how drivers get along with cyclists—it’s not pretty. 

Then two things happened: 1) the pandemic hit and 2) I stopped exercising. I don’t really love to exercise. I only did Zumba. It was so much fun and it was my way of tricking myself into working out because I was just dancing. Fun fact: I used to be a certified Zumba instructor, that’s how much I loved it.  

But, when everything shut down, there was little fun to be had. In its place was a lot of confusion and concern instead. Let’s face it though, I lost my priority of fun long before the pandemic hit. 

From day one, I took the pandemic seriously. I never stopped wearing masks and can count on one hand the number of outdoor gatherings I’ve joined. It’s just what I felt comfortable with and I know this is different for everyone. I got a lot of peace from knowing that I was not weaponizing myself and putting others (or myself) at risk and that peace led me to a whole different journey of seeing what I’m really about.

So, I have spent the latter part of this pandemic rediscovering my joy, fun, creativity and opening up new possibilities. These days I don’t want fun to be a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have, no exceptions.

Our fun, our joy, our light, can never be lost. They are healing tools. How are you holding on to them these days?