Writer Confessions: 66 Days of Play, Week 2: Doggie Dance Party

Hey there, Merworld. Week 2 of 66 Days of Play is a wrap. Between lots of fur-baby time, social events, and a full day of creative writing, I’d say Week 2 is a success. As part of this week’s happenings, a friend shared a NPR article posted earlier this month titled “Here’s why you should make a habit of having more fun.” The article talks about how we tend to focus on the pursuit of happiness, when in reality the pursuit of fun is a more achievable goal. Happiness is a philosophical state of being, dependent on one’s current circumstances, mood, biology, and life experiences. But play – doing a fun activity simply because you enjoy it – is a real tangible action within anyone’s grasp. No matter what kind of day you’ve had. No matter your income or age. We can all participate in fun.

This concept of FUN rather than the slippery concept of HAPPINESS really resonates with me. As I mentioned in last week’s post, I wasn’t feeling one-hundred percent due to an illness. I wouldn’t say I was happy the whole day, but I was still able to enjoy some playtime. Now this week, I’m healthy, but have been rather busy at work. Not necessarily in a consistent state of giddiness, but still able to enjoy spurts of fun. So I am loving this idea of pursuing fun on a daily basis as a way to unlock positive vibes!

Here’s a rundown of my playtime activities for the week:

Day 8: Dinner with colleagues. It was great to see both local and out of town coworkers for a social event.

Day 9: Dance party with my dog, Patina. Today was busy, so I got my playtime jam on by jumping around the room to music with my pup between work meetings. This was one of my favorite playtime activities this week. Who knew she’d get so excited about dancing?

Day 10: Tried a Doggie Dance Party 2.0. Patina participated but was less enthused today. Probably because my husband was watching this time, and she’d rather just cuddle with him. Whatever, I still danced.

Day 11: Editing the second novel in my Ice Floe series ALL DAY LONG. It sounds arduous, but truly this is my happy place. There’s nowhere I’d rather be on a day off than crafting dialogue, imagining plot twists, and dreaming up tail-kicking mercreatures.

Day 12: Super Bowl LVII. Mostly an excuse to hang with family and eat tacos, but the game was entertaining too.

Day 13: Indulged in more puppy love by taking Patina for a walk because it was over 40 degrees Fahrenheit. For those familiar with Midwest winters, you gotta take advantage of the heat waves when you can!

Day 14: Watched several “How to Draw Faces” cartoon tutorials and tried my hand at a sketch or two. I’ve never dabbled much with drawing and yet think it would be fun to get to a point where I can draw my own characters.

Learnings from this week? Connection made up a big part of my playtime activities these first two weeks. As an introvert by nature, I can get overwhelmed with too much social interaction. Having a rather people-centric professional career, I frequently crave solo time outside of work as a way to regenerate and decompress. However, the last two weeks have helped me remember that free time can be people-centric too given the right environment. Time spent with friends, family, and colleagues can be rejuvenating when the focus is on shared fun experiences. And as the NPR article referenced above notes, it’s these FUN experiences that can lead to more health, joy, and ultimately that more permanent state of happiness.

Until next time, Merworld. You flipping rock!

~Melissa