Welcome to the January Funtervention!
Let's start the new year with more fun and delight (and a special welcome to readers of the Guardian and the New York Times)
Happy early new year, everyone! And a special welcome to all the new subscribers who have joined the “How to Feel Alive” community from The Guardian and The New York Times — I’m thrilled to have you!
I’m playing around with Substack’s “embed audio” feature and have recorded a New Year’s greeting for you. Listen at your peril!
As I mentioned last week, I’ve decided to kick off 2024 with a “funtervention” — which is like an intervention, but for fun. Why? Because we need it. Far from being frivolous, prioritizing fun is one of the most powerfully positive things we can do for our mental and physical health. It can strengthen our relationships, boost our resilience, lower our stress, and infuse our everyday lives with more joy, laughter, and delight. What’s more, it doesn’t feel like work: The fact that fun is intrinsically motivating means that unlike most New Year’s resolutions, prioritizing fun doesn’t require willpower or self-restraint. I can’t think of any better way to start the new year.
How it will work:
Each week, I’ll send you ideas (via this newsletter) for concrete things you can do to invite more fun into your life. I’ll also be sharing stories of some of my own attempts to do so (including my fun-fails), and I’ll invite you to participate in community discussions about what you’ve tried and learned.
The basic funtervention is free, so if you want to participate, all you need to do is subscribe. I’ll also be posting special content for my paid subscribers, including bonus audio content and printable resources.
And if you don’t want to take part in the funtervention, that’s fine, too — I’m hoping that the newsletters might brighten your day even if you don’t do any of the suggestions.
Speaking of physical benefits (and my own personal need for a funtervention), this is the photo I used to create the logo for this newsletter. I was biking in Wyoming on a closed road, and apparently felt inspired to do a cartwheel. I remember it feeling fun in the moment, but right now, just looking at this picture makes me feel like I’ve pulled a muscle.
What to do today:
Think of something new that you might want to do or try this January.
It doesn’t need to be grand. Maybe you want to take a walk in a new neighborhood, or check out a local site that you have never gotten around to visiting. Maybe there’s a class or activity that you’ve been interested in, or a recipe or project you’ve been meaning to try, or a hobby that you’re curious about. It doesn’t matter what it is; the only requirement is that it be something that feels fun TO YOU (not to your kids, or your partner, or your dog, but to YOU).
Thinking about it should feel light, not heavy. (I think many of our New Year’s resolutions come with a sense of obligation or restriction attached to them; this is supposed to be the opposite.) We’re looking for a sense of expansion. A little bit of nervousness is okay, too, but it should be the kind of nervousness that comes from doing something new that you’re excited about — what my daughter’s 3rd grade teachers call “nerve-citement.”
Bonus points if you a. invite someone else to try this new thing with you, and b. tell us what you’re thinking of doing in this thread:Notice (and share) something that delights you each day. As some of you know, I just had an op-ed essay in The New York Times about the practice of noticing and sharing daily delights—meaning anything that you encounter that sparks delight (it doesn’t matter how small or absurd). As part of the January funtervention, I encourage you to make a point to notice and share at least one delight a day. When you do, put your index finger in the air and say, out loud, “Delight!” (yes, even if you’re alone). I go into more detail in the article about why this last part is important; for now, just trust me!
As an experiment, I recorded myself reading the delight op-ed, which I’m including at the end of this email for paid subscribers who might want to listen to it, podcast style.
I also highly encourage you share your delights with other people in your life (I have multiple delight text chains going on with friends) and, if you’d like, to join and participate in our running “delight” chat here on Substack in which readers share their “daily delights” with each other. Sharing delights is an easy way to counterbalance our brains’ natural tendency to overly focus on things that stoke anxiety and fear. It’s also, dare I say it, fun — and is way more satisfying and uplifting than scrolling through social media.
Lastly, invite a friend to join the funtervention with you—this will be a much more fun experience if you do it with someone else (though don’t worry if you can’t think of anyone to invite, because I’ll be creating opportunities for group discussions here on Substack).
You can invite someone either by directly inviting them to subscribe to my newsletter at this link, or by sharing this post with them with a note:Also, if you do decide to go for a paid subscription, I just realized that Substack offers group subscriptions. (The 20% discount applies to them as well, as long as you sign up before midnight on January 1st.)
And that’s it! I’ll send out further information and instructions on Wednesday.
For now, here’s to scrolling less, living more, and embracing the power of fun in 2024,
Author of How to Break Up With Your Phone and The Power of Fun
PS: What should you do if you feel like you don’t even know what fun IS anymore?
Don’t worry: a lot of people feel that way. (Like, a lot.) That’s part of the reason I’m doing the funtervention. Later this week, I’ll tell you about my definition of fun and an explanation of why it’s so important.
PPS: One of my own delights today is this extremely weird claymation gif that the New York Times commissioned to accompany my article on delight. If you look at the article on the website, this gif just plays in a loop. When I first saw it, I didn’t even read my own op-ed (even though I was excited about it). Instead I just watched this loop for 30 seconds with my husband, mouth agape. It is just so . . . absurd. Delight!
PPPS: What’s the difference between the January Funtervention and my course on fun?
I realized that might be confusing, so let me clarify: my text-message-based course on fun is designed to directly follow the steps outlined in the second half of The Power of Fun (the part where I walk you through a framework I call SPARK that’s designed to help you have more fun). Every day you get a voice message from me, followed by interactive text prompts explaining that day’s assignment.
This January funtervention, on the other hand, is inspired by the book but isn’t going to directly follow its steps. It’s going to be more free-form and will include more anecdotes and personal stories from me, as well as opportunities to interact with other readers. They’re definitely complementary (and paid subscribers get a 25% discount), but you can also do one without the other.
Paid subscriber bonus: listen to me read my op-ed about delight
As promised!