[00:00:05] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Hey, folks. It's Aimee popping in quick with a bit of context before this next Episode rolls. So for this month, we've been talking about why recreation matters and how closely play and mental health are linked. This Episode gets a lot more practical.
Henry and I talk about what actually gets in the way of fun — things like anhedonia, quite literally — but also overthinking, or this idea that there's supposed to be one clean, logical fix to how we feel. So we also borrow a really useful metaphor from philosopher Karl Popper that I love. It's this clocks and clouds metaphor. So listen for that. And then toward the end, we'll get into something that trips us up so often — really [it's] about letting go of the outcome, whether that's who wins the game or whether we're doing it right.
So if you've been feeling, like, a little fun rusty, this Episode is for you.
[00:01:15] Aimee Prasek, PhD: So the theme of this Episode is Fun, or Play. In Episode five, we also talked about this Element and got into a related concept of Flow. So head over there after this one, for some more goodies. I think it adds more evidence, as well, for why fun is seriously important for mental health. And in that Episode, in Episode five, Henry, you also talked about play, or fun, as both a manifestation of joy and a creator of joy. And you said: when we don't feel joyful, doing fun things might just get us there. So first, I a hundred percent agree. And as we talk about here, you know, practicing these Elements, like Fun, can get that upward spiral moving — where more health promoting behaviors become easier, they just kind of build on each other. And we'll talk about some specific ways to get that spiral going in this Episode. But first I want to dive into the obstacles.
So I think doing fun things to feel better is really hard when you're not feeling particularly fun. You know, when you feel depressed — so anhedonia, that inability to feel pleasure — and sort of pulling away from activities that have given us pleasure in the past are like red flag signs of depression. So doing fun things when you feel depressed or just in a crappy mood seems like, you know, a lot of energy to kind of fight against. So I'm curious what you think about that, Henry, you know, before we get into the strategies. How might we be able to sort of reduce some of this energy, that kind of inertia.
[00:03:01] Henry Emmons, MD: Well, first let me say that one of the goals of Joy Lab is to have more inner freedom. So we don't want you to get the message that you should try to have fun even if you don't feel like it. You know, it's okay to step back, listen to yourself, be guided by what really feels right to you and not what anyone else thinks you ought to do.
That being said, the inability to enjoy things, to get pleasure from what normally gives you pleasure, is one of the clearest signs of depression. And what I usually hear from my patients is that once their more acute or distressing symptoms have subsided, one of their biggest long-term concerns is that they just don't get much joy or pleasure from life; there's a kind of flatness. And even if they still want to do things, and even if they know that they'd feel better if they did [those things], it's just really, really hard to get themselves to do these things. So I think that, that right there, is a really good role for treatments of depression — whether that be a medication, or a natural therapy, or something behavioral, but adding something to just help you get over the hump, to get just enough energy or motivation to get yourself moving and in a healthier direction.
[00:04:38] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Yeah.
[00:04:39] Henry Emmons, MD: So I'm not gonna get into specifics of treatment here of course, 'cause we don't have time; what I'll say right now is that there is no shame in needing to take something to give you a boost. And whether that be a prescription medication or a natural therapy, it's just another tool. And if you can feel just a little bit better, you might actually be able to do the things you would normally do, that you would normally enjoy. And then even if you don't enjoy it right now because of how you feel, there's a really good chance that you will soon, that it will move you in that direction.
So there is a concept in therapy that if you act as if you feel better than you actually do, that it might in fact make you feel better. So some people call this "fake it till you make it," and sometimes it is kind of dismissed, you know — thought of as being disingenuous or that you're just in denial. But I do think that there's something to it, and it is not denial. If you know that you don't feel like doing something, but you do it anyway, that's just kind of good practice; good common sense. Now, you don't want to let your emotions have the last word about what you do, or don't do. And a lot of times if you just start by changing what you do, your mood, in fact, will follow that.
[00:06:16] Aimee Prasek, PhD: I ike that distinction, sort of acknowledging that you don't wanna do it, but maybe you're going to try it anyway because it might nourish you. There's something, I think, really empowering about that. You know, it's like, okay, I hear you depression; you're loud and clear, but I'm gonna do something else. You kind of chip away at a mood or a stagnant path with just little actions that might be different. I find that empowering.
I think a related obstacle has to do with how we sort of reject the intuitive, kind of small and diverse, steps that we can also take to help us feel better. We can get tricked into this idea that there's sort of one logical solution that can solve it all, you know — it's the only thing that'll make me feel better, and I'll have to wait until it's given to me before I take action. And as you were saying, Henry, there's certainly that beginning phase where you might need a little bit more support to get over the hump, but then this is different. That's sort of, you know, just this waiting game where we're waiting for all of the pieces to come into line and solve it for us. And it's not a surprising way of thinking sort of, given things like single cause bias, right? We humans want, and generally falsely believe, that there's one cause and one effect. You know, there's only one solution [to] my depression.
And to kind of illustrate that, I like philosopher of science Karl Popper's distinction between clocks and clouds. I think it actually illustrates why mental health treatment outcomes aren't so great with the usual care model. So, Karl Popper suggested that we can kind of divide the world into two categories: clocks and clouds. And he noted that clocks are these really tight ordered systems that can be explained and solved by reduction. You know, the clock is broken? Ah, follow these simple steps to investigate. And the solution comes down to this one universal, simple fix, or few fixes, whereas clouds are, as he stated, highly irregular, disorderly, and more or less unpredictable.
I think we can all kind of see where we're going with this, right? So Popper said that our mistake in science, but I think all of us do this, you know — our mistake is to pretend that everything is a clock, that everything can be solved in this really ordered, boiled-down, logical way. And Popper believed that pretending everything is a clock is just doomed to failure because we live in a universe of clouds, not clocks. And I feel like mental health is such a cloud, but we've been really trying to treat it like a clock for so long.
[00:09:13] Henry Emmons, MD: You know, I don't think I've ever heard this about the clocks and clouds before, and I just love it. It makes so much sense. I think it's just so clear.
[00:09:24] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Yeah.
[00:09:25] Henry Emmons, MD: And I agree. I think we easily fall into that trap of thinking that there is this one thing that's gone wrong, and if we can figure it out, we can fix it.
It's weird because when you study the human body — the human brain especially — you realize really quickly just how complex it is and how one thing influences another, which influences another, and it just kind of — [it's] so complicated. And yet, you know, we are trained to find what's wrong and fix it. And maybe the complexity of all this is just so overwhelming that we look for simple solutions. I think there might be some value in that. But I do think that, for example, the way that we're kind of approaching something like depression with medication — just how widely the antidepressants are prescribed today, you know — is this idea that if depression were one problem, there would be one solution, and it just doesn't really work out that way in the real world.
So if you were to take a look at the table of contents of one of my books, you would know immediately that I'm a clouds person. I have to laugh when somebody tells me, "I really liked your book, but it was just so overwhelming" and I laugh because they're right. You know, I tried so hard to capture and honor the complexity of this human condition, I might have gone just a little too far trying to be so comprehensive. So I feel like I've spent a lot of time since then trying to simplify, or maybe helping folks understand their patterns, so that they can narrow down their choices of solutions, you know? You don't have to have the whole universe of solutions if you have a clearer sense of what your own underlying patterns are. So honestly, I think the way out of anxiety and depression is gonna be a little bit different for every individual person, just like fun, you know, can look different for everyone. There are people whose idea of fun is actually fixing broken clocks, for example. And then there [are] others like me who enjoy more kind of floating in the clouds, and it's all good.
[00:11:59] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Yeah, it's so true. I like the simple quote from CS Lewis. He says, "have fun, even if it's not the same kind of fun everyone else is having." It's gonna look different. As you noted Henry, it can feel overwhelming to know that there's not one solution, obviously. That's where single cause bias comes in, we're trying to — [noted] in our last Episode — we're trying to calm some uncertainty; make sense of it, you know. But there's not an easy solution to any problem, whether, you know, it's a — if we're thinking it's a simple problem or a complex problem, there's usually multiple solutions. But, you know, that's actually what I found so powerful about your books. Because what I was doing, what I was being told should make me feel better, wasn't, you know? So amidst that overwhelm of opening it up to more than one solution, it does put the power back in our hands. And that ownership, that agency, allows us to take some steps. You know, we aren't broken clocks that can't be fixed. We're clouds.
And in line with that, another obstacle shows up that I want to get into, and it's something called metacognition. So metacognition usually gets discussed as a good thing. It's basically defined as thinking about thinking — it's so meta — and we talk about its benefits a lot in mindfulness and awareness research. We leverage it at Joy Lab, but you know, too much of a good thing is just too much, and too much thinking is too much thinking, and it will block fun. I think this is super relatable as an obstacle for a lot of us. Our thoughts just get in the way. And so I really like the way you talk about this, Henry. Can you describe more about how metacognition can show up as an obstacle?
[00:13:56] Henry Emmons, MD: Wow. You know, there's nothing that says fun quite like the word metacognition, right?
[00:14:03] Aimee Prasek, PhD: [Come] over here, we have fun.
[00:14:06] Henry Emmons, MD: Hahaha.
[00:14:07] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Super nerdy, I love it. Haha.
[00:14:09] Henry Emmons, MD: So I think I first came across this term myself at a Buddhism and neuroscience conference. And you're right, I think it's a term that's usually associated with awareness and awareness research. Basically, as I understand it, it means developing the ability to observe yourself as a thinker. And I do see that as one of the main benefits of engaging in a mindfulness practice, and here's why I think that can be so helpful. So, imagine that I get totally carried away by my thoughts, so much so that they are making me miserable. This has happened to me, Aimee. Actually. It has really happened to me. Hahaha. Not even —
[00:15:00] Aimee Prasek, PhD: All of us, Henry. Hahaha.
[00:15:00] Henry Emmons, MD: Not even that long ago, but...
[00:15:03] Aimee Prasek, PhD: We hear you. We hear you cluckin'. Haha.
[00:15:06] Henry Emmons, MD: Let's say I don't know that I'm miserable because of my thoughts; I simply believe my thoughts to be true. So then, if I can become aware that I am just thinking, and that this is not actually all true, it can be a huge relief. That can give me some inner freedom, and I think that's the value of metacognition, of becoming able to see yourself as the creator of your own thoughts.
[00:15:40] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Right.
[00:15:41] Henry Emmons, MD: But if I'm playing a game, let's say I'm playing spike-ball with my family, which we do quite a bit — I do not wanna be thinking about thinking. I don't want to be thinking about anything at all, at that moment. And sometimes I do start thinking, and as you know, it's a disaster when you do that [while] you're playing a game like that. So I just want to be totally into the game, reacting in the moment as best I can, as best my body allows me to. When I'm playing with my family I know I'm still going to lose, but that's not the point, right? So, you hear this from athletes often, "I got into my head." And when you're playing a game or doing anything that really gives you pleasure, you just wanna be there for it. You want to live the experience rather than think about living the experience, if that makes sense.
[00:16:45] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Yeah. You can see how metacognition both — or that — just getting caught up in your thoughts can both block you from even starting to engage, and then also when you should be there and instead you're somewhere else. And this really tracks for me. I absolutely loved basketball growing up. You've maybe heard Henry and I talk a little bit about it here. My dad and I would play one-on-one all the time. I played in high school, even had some scholarships to play in college. But when my dad died my senior year of high school, I just could not play anymore. Instead of playing the game, having fun, like I would do [before], all I could think about on the court was that this was a thing we used to do together. And just — I would get caught up in my head about, you know, [how] he's not here, and [it
would
[00:17:35] Aimee Prasek, PhD: spiral], so I would lose my ability to just be in the game. And I think now, if I could have seen fun and play as a tool to heal — which I really think [they] can be — like we do in Joy Lab, you know, maybe I could have used basketball to embrace that connection with my dad. Which I love, like, we can use things like games, like basketball, like fun, to cultivate joy, to promote positive mental health.
And this also makes me think, of course, about a _Ted Lasso_ episode when Danny gets the yips. Such a clear example, you know, how people who are paid crazy amounts of money to play a game start to overthink it, and then they just can't play.
[00:18:24] Henry Emmons, MD: Yeah, that is such a great example, because Danny is not only a really good player; he is the embodiment of joy. And then even he got the yips. So for those of you who haven't seen _Ted Lasso_, Danny Rojas was just a ringer who joined the club midseason, and he absolutely loved the game of soccer. His catchphrase was, "soccer is life," and when he plays, he just has the biggest smile and a bounce in his step, and you just see so clearly how he is having fun.
[00:19:05] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Yeah.
[00:19:06] Henry Emmons, MD: It's not just a job. Then one day during practice, he got injured. Then he heard about this curse. He heard it from the fans, I think, that the team is cursed by somebody who put the curse on them years ago. And so Danny began to believe in this, and then he believed that because of this curse, he was never going to play again. And then that belief started to spread to the rest of the team, which I think is a really good example of how negative thinking can go viral in a hurry. And then the entire team started to play poorly. So finally, you know, Ted Lasso and his, you know, bumbling but wise way, held a ceremony where they each brought something that they personally really valued, then they put it into a big garbage can and burned it. And you know, it's such a vivid example of how — one way how — we can release negative beliefs and step out of our thinking, just so we can get back to playing again.
[00:20:15] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Yeah. Let's channel some of that Ted Lasso energy. Let's get into those cleansing rituals or some fun strategies, anyway. So, I think what we'll do is break them up to sort of address the obstacles that we've noted. And we can — we'll kind of start with how to prepare for fun. [It] sounds kind of boring, but it's effective to make it more likely. Then we'll present some fun ideas and then I think we can finish with how we can let go of outcomes.
So, Henry, do you wanna explain that first one, kind of setting the stage for fun?
[00:20:51] Henry Emmons, MD: Yeah, sure. So remember: this is meant to be fun. So we don't wanna make it feel like work or just add more — even more to your plate of things to do. So we'll try to keep our focus on some ways to remove obstacles, or add some really simple things that don't really take any extra time or effort on your part.
So first, let's think about some easy ways to get ready for fun. Now for a lot of people, and I put myself in this camp, anticipation is really a good portion of what makes something so enjoyable. So feel free to think about it ahead of time, you know, imagine yourself with the people you're going to see, or doing the thing that you're going to enjoy. Let yourself get excited about it.
And then here's a super simple way to try to unclutter your mind before a fun event: take a little break from your phone or your computer. It is really just a simple way to allow your mind to clear. Just set the phone aside for an hour or two, maybe even turn it off, so you don't get tempted by it. Just simply don't feed your mind with images, news, or something on your to-do list. Just for a little while. Then maybe you actually have a chance to be more present when the event itself comes around.
Now here's an example that I got from my dog, Bodhi. Bodhi is over a year old now, so he is calming down, but he is still a puppy and he is still full of fun. And here's one way that Bodhi prepares himself for fun. So, if I let him off leash somewhere where I can do that, he will be waiting for me at, you know, the rise in the road, or maybe at the top of the stairs here at home. And he's waiting. And then he just crouches down as if he thinks I can't see him or something. And he is looking very intently at me. Now I know that he is about to, you know, pounce on me, attack me. And if he weren't so cute and nearly harmless, I might even be a little bit, you know, intimidated. But it's just his way of saying, "hey, get ready. We are about to have the most fun you can have if you're a domesticated, house-trained, pack-animal." Right? So, you know, find your ready position. You know, get ready to pounce, or, you know, move on the court, or whatever it is that you do for fun.
[00:23:55] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Yeah. There is something about power-posing for fun, right? Fun-posing. I love that stance, my pups do it too, and you just feel that energy. It's super contagious. I — and I wanna, I wanna go in the mix with it, you know, so it's — it is powerful. You present your body in that way, [or] whatever way that feels empowering for you. So, okay, we've set the stage. Now what can we do to have fun? And I wanna say, even if you're feeling fun-rusty, you've had fun before; you're good at it; you're wired for it; it's part of you. So, [you're encouraged] to really kind of be in line with that.
One strategy that I really love to rely on, is to pick a playful, fun activity you did as a kid and do it today and tomorrow, even for just two or three minutes to start, seriously. Build a fort, draw on the sidewalk with chalk, build a fairy garden, play basketball, whatever it is. I think the point here is to not overthink it. The activity is part of you, so let's uncover it.
I love this Carl Jung quote, I think it speaks perfectly to this strategy, he says that "the small child is still around and possesses a creative life, which I lack, but how can I make my way to it?" And later on Jung, in his notes, identifies that engaging in the play he enjoyed as a child is actually the root to spark that creative, playful kid within.
[00:25:35] Henry Emmons, MD: Hmm. Love that.
Well, I told you earlier that I'm a cloud person and I remember as a kid laying on my back, just looking up at the clouds. And you know, if I was with a friend we might comment on their shapes or whatever, but I enjoyed just being alone and watching the clouds kind of go by. It almost put me into a really pleasant trance type of state. And you know, not just looking at clouds, I just remember spending a lot of time on the ground as a kid. Haha.
[00:26:15] intro: Yeah.
[00:26:15] Henry Emmons, MD: You know, wrestling, playing in the dirt; you know, building a snow fort; whatever it was — rolling around. And I think there's something here for us still as adults. That idea of literally getting down on the ground, you know, touching the earth; letting ourselves be animated by it, grounded by it. Or maybe just watching the clouds, and letting ourselves become entranced.
[00:26:45] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Yeah. You're transporting me to a snow fort. I don't — if anybody, you know, is in southern states or elsewhere, they're like, "what's a snow fort?" perhaps, but man — how safe you felt and like, there's something magical about being in that little fort. You create that little world. And it makes me think as well about sort of balancing all those [metaphorical] clouds in the universe that we are, as well — that complexity of life — with grounding and play. Like, there is such simplicity in that, that we crave, These things require us to be totally present, head out of the clouds, and like, really get into one of the most basic, simple, animal drives: this instinctual desire to play. And, you know, there's all this great research too, coming out [supporting] those grounding practices, you know, it helps us to sort of shake off fear, to release tension, to feel more connected.
And on that idea of grounding, another strategy, I think, that's important and that's easy to rely on is just movement, you know. And really anything that feels fun and true for you, when you feel [present] in your body. And I think it can be easy to fall into sort of fad workouts and dismiss the stuff that feels really good in our own body, uniquely, you know?
And also, [it helps] to remember that it doesn't matter if you're good at it. I think of dancing, like, as a good example here. It's so easy to think, "I'm not a good dancer," so, you know, you never go to that dance-looking group-exercise class, or you never just jam out at home. But dancing is really in our DNA, you know, we humans have been dancing for ceremonies and rituals for millennia, so [try] channeling some of that movement that is embedded in you. And it's — you know, it's absolutely worth our time. Dancing, and really any playful activity, any movement [which] you really get engrossed in — it actually helps you to take some fuller, more supportive breaths. And also, engaging in playful movement is really good for digestion and GI health. I think that's powerful. You reduce overall muscle tension. Right? So all of these are immensely powerful. It also reduces fatigue, and can help you to feel less stiff. Totally worth your time.
[00:29:05] Henry Emmons, MD: Yeah. Yeah. I always find it interesting that you can re — you can be less tired by expending more energy. Haha. It's like totally paradoxical, but it's true. It is so true.
[00:29:19] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Yeah, it is. Yeah. And when you just do it for a moment, just, you know, you can — you don't have to go out for 30 or 45 minutes. To do it for a minute, and then sit back and see [how you feel], like, whew.
[00:29:27] Henry Emmons, MD: Yeah.
[00:29:27] Aimee Prasek, PhD: Do I feel a little better?
[00:29:28] Henry Emmons, MD: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Well I'll just say one more thing about play, and it sounds on the surface to be pretty obvious, but I don't think it is actually. And that is to let go of the outcome. We actually talked quite a bit about this in our last session [when] we talked about embracing uncertainty and really being okay with not knowing, you know. And this is especially hard for those of us who are overachievers or just really, really competitive.
So I remember when my son was right about 13 years old and he was — this is putting it mildly — he was quite competitive. He played on a traveling soccer team and, you know, they probably got into a league that was just a level higher than where they should have been. So they had really good players, but they just hardly ever won at that level. So my son just didn't appear to be having any fun at all. So one day I felt I just had to talk to him about it, and said something about how good it will be for him, later on in life, to learn how to lose well when you're young. I think I tried to talk about, you know, being able to enjoy the process and not just the outcome of the game; that winning is good; losing is also good, and it's a really great life skill to know how to do both of them well. And I remember his response was something like, "dad, we lose all the time. I think I'm pretty good at it." Hahaha. You know, something like that. So just recently we talked about this conversation again — I don't even remember why it came up, but I was surprised that he remembered it. In fact, it sounded to me like he had embellished it quite a bit over the years, and he said he'd shared it — that lesson — with his friends from time to time.
Now, my son is still plenty competitive, but I love that he took that idea to heart and now he is somebody who just loves to play and have fun. If only I could beat him in spike-ball once in a while because, you know, it's good to know how to lose, but every time? Hahaha. I mean, come on.
[00:32:08] Aimee Prasek, PhD: We need balance in life, yeah. A thousand joys, a thousand sorrows. That's we've talked about. I love that lesson. I don't think I was taught it very well, but, you know, when you're not afraid to lose, the world kind of opens up, I think. It's a massive lesson that we should be — we should be talking about more with our kids you know. You can play more, trust more, even love more, when you're not afraid to lose. It's a good lesson to start the world off with, or learn it now. I think as well, before we end, I want to come sort of full circle a bit, and kind of counter another piece of messaging that's common in mental health and cue up some of the strategies that we just talked about with the story.
So, there's this idea, I think, that the path to feeling better has to be just as depressing as the way you've been feeling. You know, the remedy for depression has to always be bitter. Because that's what depression is. You know, you have to pick up all the terrible breadcrumbs; make your way back, before you can find your way to joy. And as we've been talking about today, that's just not true. So I've been feeling this a lot lately. How can we uncover more of our fun nature as a tool for healing? So I'm gonna wrap us up here, I think, with a little last story [about] how fun has been one of my key mental health tools, of late.
So in the last few weeks, my sister and I have been trying to navigate this new phase of caring for our mom. So our mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few years ago now, and she's moving into that phase of just not being able to live alone, really. She needs more support. And it's so hard. Parenting a parent is, like, a total mind trip. I'm sure a lot of folks listening have been there. It doesn't feel fun. And then parenting our 4-year-old, it's just like, too much parenting for me. And so this weekend I got out this life-sized cardboard clubhouse that I had gotten for our daughter for her birthday, fully intending that it was, like, a brilliant way to keep her busy so that I could get some work done, and just like check out a bit from the week. The week had just felt so overwhelming with all the financial and planning details for my mom, and just sort of witnessing how she's kind of losing bits of herself, and her abilities.
So anyway, my daughter and I went outside to have breakfast yesterday, and she saw the clubhouse outside and shrieked with excitement because she wanted to eat breakfast in there. So she grabbed her food, obviously she grabbed a magic wand, a tub of chalk, a book, and when she asked me to join her, I just kinda looked. And she begged me to join her and I was like, okay. I really did not want to, but I said yes anyway, I think, because we're working with this Element of Fun — just another power of Joy Lab, it just sort of anchors your attention to an Element. So I was... I was channeling fun here. So I packed myself into that life-size clubhouse — you know, like life-size for a 4-year-old — so, stuffed myself in and we started to eat, and she asked if I could read her a book while we ate. And she had picked out Maurice Sendak's book, _Where The Wild Things Are_, and we started reading, and then we drew a funny monster with the chalk in the clubhouse, and we pretended that we were, you know, in the jungle of the wild things, and like, all of a sudden it was 35 minutes later and we were cracking up pretending, you know, and just being silly. And I realized I hadn't thought a bit about all the stuff that had been so heavy on me during the week. It was just a break.
But it wasn't the tune-out break of like, you know, a Netflix binge or something like that. And it wasn't a formal meditation break, or a session with a therapist, or all the other great things that can help you work through a tough time. It was a fun break. And honestly, you know, I played again that day. I played four corners in a bouncy house, truly, and it was transformative, like this upward spiral was taking shape, right? I started in the clubhouse; it kind of inched me into that bouncy-house later on in the day. And this might seem silly, which I think is the point, but just those few hours of total play have actually helped me to move a bit more smoothly, I think, into this new role that my sister and I are in with my mom. You know, I feel like some of the anger and frustrations that I was sort of carrying into that new role, I've kind of softened and I just wanna — I wanna keep it that way with more play, to keep sort of softening those angers and frustrations. Not that I am ignoring them, but [so] that I'm inviting play into this space as well.
And it reminded me of this short documentary I saw on Maurice Sendak. I don't remember what it was called, but he said in it, "It is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It's the best means they have for taming wild things." I think that's it, right? Those wild things, those obstacles that keep us from tapping into our joy, from having fun, from being there for fun. And it's, you know, it's not just kids, right? Adults, we need this catharsis too.
So on that note, let's take fun more seriously. More seriously as a tool for healing, and as a piece of ourselves that needs to stay alive. I think we can use fun and play, truly, as a powerful tool to really tame our wild things and to uncover more joy.
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