It’s something that we almost forgot how to do completely. I remember a time when I could barely sleep the night before a day where I would get to play all day. Never knowing what the day had in store. The beauty of making up games with a friend because maybe we had a soccer ball, a small hockey goal, and skateboards. The feeling of hitting the pillow after a long day and feeling like it couldn’t have been any more fun. Where did that go? Why does it seem so difficult to do it again? And, most importantly, why is it so important that play is part of every single day?
Playing is something that I think that we are born to do. It is the way that we activate the creative part of our brain, relieve the stress, allow joy to enter. But at some point along the way of life, the play began to disappear. Chalk it up to thinking that responsibility meant adjusting how much play I would be able to manage. Responsibility, especially as an adult, meant being serious. It meant that I had to be older than my age because that is what would make a good impression on a career. Responsibility meant that fun would go on the back burner. It didn’t work out quite as well as I thought it would. Most people know me as a fairly serious person. I’m often engrossed in building a company, achieving a goal, and have a solid dose of ambition attached to it. I also have always believed that “grinding” meant that it had to be difficult. After all, if it isn’t difficult it probably wasn’t worth the effort in the first place? But this is the complete opposite of what I think brings value to the self and the world. Think about some of the best people that you know off the top of your head. They could be the nicest, most generous, thoughtful people you know. They may be the people that inspire you and give you those words of wisdom right when you need it. The most interesting thing about these people is that they are all FUN. There is this lightness about them that is almost an infectious energy that brings the world to them. I would argue, it’s because they know how to play.
There is this certain moment where I can distinctly notice that I am playing. The anxiety that I usually carry lifts, a small smile remains permanently on my face, and there is this positive energy that I can feel running through my entire body. It’s absolutely incredible. Time equally moves incredibly quickly and stands completely still at the same time. But that play has definitely evolved from the soccer ball, hockey goal, and skateboards. Although, if I’m being honest, I would still be down because it sounds like a blast. Now, I find that feeling of play in different ways. I feel it when I get to spend the day outside. It could be in the yard just taking care of plants, swimming in the sea, or walking in the forest. I also feel I am at play when I am creating something for the fun of it. There isn’t a business involved, no objective or monetary outcome, just the joy of creativity. This one has been a bit harder for me because a lot of what I do as a professional is creativity. And since I believe that creativity is one of the most significant drivers of fun (and vice versa), it poses a bit of a challenge when it comes time for me to play. While part of me enjoys having a few different hobbies to when it comes to play, there’s always a part of me that wants to pick up the camera and film.
Film has been at the center of my life for as long as I can remember. I created films for fun, I created them for school projects. When I started doing it as a career, the films for fun became less and less. But every once in a while, a film would come along that I would do for fun. It could be for a charity, a friend getting married, or a music video. It was a way to create with less boundaries, creative freedom, and remember why I created films in the first place: for fun. I’ve been incredibly lucky to work on some amazing projects. Some of them have been more than I could have ever dreamt of as a young filmmaker. And those films have reached more people than I could have ever imagined. But as I look back to see if I had any fun along the way, the answer is a forced, “yes.” One of those forced answers where you almost feel guilty for saying it because you want it to be true but you are certain that it is not. Filmmaking became a way of surviving, not a way of expressing the way that I see the world.
I’ve been trying to think about ways that I can bring more fun into the work that I create. It might just be a perspective shift, it might be a process change, it may also just be that I need to create things just for myself, just for fun, in order to bring that spark back. Whenever I work on a project just for fun, it spills over into everything that I do. It is almost like pushing on the accelerator and everything just becomes more fun in my life. As my Grandpa would say, “Just keep the fun meter pegged.” And that philosophy around life and work I think is the secret. It isn’t that I hate filmmaking, it’s that I haven’t been having fun. It isn’t that I hate building companies, it’s that I haven’t been having any fun. But fun, just as much as it is a practice, is also a mindset.
If I look back on what I wanted to do in life, I’m actually doing it. I would have called anybody a liar if they said that my career would be sharing stories of people and doing it in a way where I get to be right in the action. It literally is a dream come true. But that distraction of stress, anxiety, bills, growth, expectations, responsibilities, saving, home, retirement accounts, insurance, and all of the other little things that take away from that fun was allowed to overtake me because I didn’t intentionally set out to have fun. The lesson here is not to abandon responsibilities, but embrace that it is also a responsibility to have fun. True, childlike, free, happy, FUN. It could be for just an hour, it could be for an afternoon, or it could be an entire week (I’ll know what that feels like somebody). No matter what, it is important to prioritize it because your mental health will thank you, your creativity will thank you, the world will thank you.