Avatar photoSteven Savage

In Praise Of Fun

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I’ve been writing (a lot) about fun and how we ruin fun, as well as how we ruin it for others.  So let me take a moment to praise fun in glorious detail.

Yes, it may seem strange to list out the value of fun, as if this is some psychic spreadsheet.  But this an act that not jut acts as a reminder to myself and others, but also lets us “short circuit” those times we or others try to be “practical.”  Let’s show the practical value of supposed “impracticality”

FUN IS PURE EXPRESSION

Fun is about us.  It’s pure expression of who we are.  When we have fun, we’re being true to ourselves – indeed we’re being ourselves.

When we have fun, we’re acting in life without friction, and we’re being who we are.  These moments are valuable, irreplaceable.

These moments may turn out to be less pleasant than expected – we may find out a lot about ourselves.  What we enjoy may be a pathological escape, or it may show some deep seated need.  At least then we know.

Fun can be tricky.

FUN OPENS OUR MINDS AND EXPANDS OUR HORIZON

I’ve seen multiple ways of saying “when we have fun we’re really creative and open” so I just said it without embellishment.  When we have fun, we open our minds because we’re enjoying life, and we’re open to new things (or things we forgot).  When we’re happy, we can see further because the walls are down and our thoughts are going.

Fun also makes it so we’re receptive.  In a more relaxed state, an open state we can think new thoughts and take in new ideas.

Ask yourself how many times you had a great idea or dream or vision in a moment of entertainment or idle relaxation.

FUN NARROWS OUR MINDS AS WELL

As much as fun opens our minds, it can also narrow them as well.  Hyperfocused on something, lost in the book or a game, our minds zoom in, becoming “open” in an intense way.  Like a laser, our minds become a point on what we’re interested in, powerful and direct.

This can be a great way to close out distractions, to silence troubled thoughts, or to go deep into something we like.  There we may find ourselves, find solace, or find new ideas that the noise of life kept us from seeing.

Fun can be narrowing and broadening.  Again, it’s tricky.

FUN PUMPS US UP

Fun can get us energized, and sometimes we need that.  We may need to get out of a funk, or just get reminded of what we like, or rally ourselves.  A game, a walk, a good book can all do those things.

Fun goes right for those visceral thoughts and feelings, charges us up, and reminds us who we are.  Ever have a cheesy movie or mindless but fun joke get you going?  That’s the power of fun, even supposed “trash” that’s sincere energizes us.

FUN RELAXES US

Just as fun can open and narrow our minds, fun can energize us but also calm us down.

When we’re having fun we can be open and relaxed, being ourselves, defenses down.  Even if our idea of fun is focusing intensely on a screen as our teammates in a video game do dumb things, that focus tunes out other stimuli.  We may be intensely into something, but that intensely has little room for disruptive emotions and thoughts, so we may be relaxed in our own way.

Fun, that trickster, can pump us up and calm us down at the same time.

FUN SHORT-CIRCUITS BAD HABITS

When we have fun, we often shut down assorted parts of our personality and various habits.  With our anxieties and obsessions out of the way, with us in a state of joy, fun gives us a chance to be us without some of the baggage.  This experience is incredibly valuable.

We often view our problems and pathologies as set – if we even notice them.  To have moments when our issues and fears and so on stop is important as we can step outside of them, getting not just relief but a new perspective.  We also may see bad habits we didn’t know about until they were silenced – and we see life without them.

Silence is golden, and often helps us realize how much noise there was

FUN OPENS US TO NEW IDEAS

Fun opens us up to new ideas.  There, outside of our usual concerns and thoughts, we can imagine more.  Able to make new associations in our joys, we can dream new concepts.  We can see things from other sides, say, in the form of an intriguing game or movie.

Admittedly the things that we enjoy might create new bad habits.  We can get obsessed about a game.  A novel may entertain us but introduce us to the author’s personal problems disguised as deep thoughts.  But life is risky . . .

FUN IS JUST BEING ALIVE

Fun is also just, well, great.  Fun is being alive.  Fun is joyful.  Fun is happy.  Fun is part of being human.

So look, let’s have fun and support others in the same.  Let’s make it a support for real fun as well, finding what we like even if its not the next big thing.  Let’s encourage and share our joys.

FUN MAKES THE WORLD BETTER

Look, if we all had more happiness, we’d probably not mess up the world as we do.

YES, I ANALYZED FUN

So, yes, I analyzed fun and it’s value.  But it was worth it so we can think about why fun matters in, ironically, a practical way.  After all, fun is a hall of mirrors, so why can’t we see it from the other side.

Or maybe, the sides aren’t so separate . .

Steven Savage

Food And Food B.S.

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

If you follow me or know me, you know I’m a nut for healthy eating (punctuated with intermittent chocolate and pizza because not giving those up). However as I get into eating healthy, I also find tons of BS, bad advice, and ignorant ideas. I’d like to cut loose on a few.

Read on. It’ll probably give you ammo next time some pretentious git gets up in your face.

Please note that, since so much BS surrounds food, I’m SURE some of my ideas are flawed as well. I did my best to cover the ones I’m sure of, but no doubt I’ll have some regrets later, at least from what I didn’t include.

THERE IS NO IDEAL DIET FOR EVERYONE

Anyone pitching the perfect diet is wrong. Even people I admire or who are 90% right about stuff tend to do this, and its sad and irritating and wrong. Some diets are so wrong for certain people they’re unhealthy.

We all have different needs, situations, challenges, and advantages. We have to find the diet that works for us. This is where reading up and a good doctor help.

(I also take this personally as it’s hard to recommend a book to someone, then add “but this part is BS.”)

The best advice I ever heard for diets that is applicable across the board boils down to:

  • Eat diversely (my fave is the power plate, equal amounts of grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables. If you add animal products its just a part of that)
  • Eat the least processed food you can.

THERE IS NO SUPERFOOD

Gods save us from the stupid “X food will solve your problems” diets. Yeah, they are usually obviously BS but still people fall for them and then the BS makes its way into mainstream though. This is simply not true.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t absolutely AWESOME foods that are great for various reasons. its just they won’t solve all your problems. I do recommend finding awesome foods you like, but none is your perfect food.

By the way my perfect foods are:

  • Cabbage – Low cal, so many nutrients, so easy to use.
  • Chickpea flour -You can make anything with it, it’s got protein and fiber.
  • Garbanzo beans – Serve them straight up, mash them into hummus, make them into a casserole.
  • Peanut Butter – Protein, fats, delicious.
  • Spinach – Just a good green.\

Anyway, find your own superfoods.

EATING OUT IS FINE

We often hear eating out is bad for us, but that usually focuses on restaurants delivering highly prepared calorie bombs. But that’s only one kind of eating out – going to some pricey place that loads you up with unhealthy stuff.

First, delis and supermarkets and local markets often have tons of great premade food. This food, prepared there (or nearby) is close to home cooking on a larger scale. Read labels, ask about preparations, and see if they do anything custom.

Secondly, plenty of places that make food have cold or frozen premade meals of equal quality to their deli (usually, they’re the deli in a package).

Finally, some restaurants make healthy food, post calorie counts and ingredients, and will do custom stuff for you. This lets you eat reasonably healthy.

Let’s face it, going to a deli, eating out, etc. is sometimes easier. So don’t feel guilty. Heck, in some cases it doesn’t cost much more than doing it yourself.

By the way, some of the best places I’ve found are specialty and ethnic markets. The food there is often fresh, well-made, and uses good ingredients. I usually go to a local Asian market for quick locally-made bentos, and another local market is my go-to for guacamole.

PRECUT/SHREDDED/SLICED FOOD IS OK

Look, I’m for decreasing unneeded packaging. I hate waste. I know that buying pre-cut foods and such may be excessive.

Know what? Some people need that.

Maybe you’re in such a rush you don’t want to shred a damn cabbage. Fine, buy pre-cut.

Maybe you’ve got a physical challenge and aren’t up for cutting vegetables for thirty minutes. Fine, buy pre-sliced.

Maybe you’re stressed or facing other mental challenges and don’t want to plan preparing something complex. Good, get something pre-shredded.

Yes, it involves waste, so recycle the containers properly. Sure, it’d be nice if you could take reusable containers to stores to get a quart of cut onions or something. Maybe we can work towards less waste as a people.

But until then, don’t shame people for using pre-cut food and the like. Life’s tough.

CANNED/FROZEN/ANYTHING IS PROBABLY PRETTY GOOD

Look, as noted I love fresh food. It’s the best thing for you. Sometimes you have to get “fresh-ish” with canned or frozen foods. Look, I dunno about you but I’m not going to spend a ton of time preparing garbanzo beans just to mash them into hummus.

From what I can tell canned or frozen vegetables, prepared properly and right after harvest, are pretty good. Just make sure its not got a lot of added stuff that’s not good for you (added salt, preservatives).

Also cans are easy to store, take on trips, last long, and don’t use power to keep. So extra advantages.

THERE’S NO NEED TO COOK FANCY MEALS

Cookbooks and cooking magazines have lovely spreads with all sorts of beautiful foods. Then you read the recipes and some of them take a load of time and effort which you don’t have.

I love to cook. I love to make food. I also know sometimes we don’t have the time or ingredients or want to make an effort. Know what? It’s OK to not make fancy stuff or complex meals, no matter how the magazine pictures look.

Let’s take a look at a poki bowl, that food fad popping up everywhere. Know what it is? A bunch of stuff in a bowl with a sauce. “Stuff in a bowl with a sauce” is a common form of food all over the place, but we act like it’s fancy or special if we slap a name on it and charge fifteen bucks.

A few ideas for you:

  • A classic “bowl meal” Idea I’ve seen is just mix a cup of cooked rice, 1-2 cups of greens (probably steamed in a microwave), and half a can of beans. Then throw on some spices or flavoring, and you’re done.
  • Kimchi allows you to transform any pile of stuff into a spicy pile of stuff. It’s a staple for me.
  • Chazuke, the classic Japanese quickie of rice+green tea gave me plenty of ideas. Basically I make a bowl meal, but add an herbal tea (usually lemon or ginger) and a few spices, and instant soup. By the way, lemon tea and garlic tastes a lot like chicken for some reason.

Sometimes I have sat down to a pile of greens with lemon juice for dressing and a bowl of garbanzo beans in soy sauce. Done.

SO THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS

So that’s my thoughts on food and food BS. Hope they help out. Feel free to add other ideas, or tell me where I’m wrong – it’s not like I knew this stuff immediately, I had to learn it.

Steven Savage

Fun And Work: Double Doing

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Last week in my seemingly (but not actually) endless discussion of how we ruin fun and why, I explored the possibility that we can combine work and fun effectively. As long as we have proper boundaries and goals and check-ins, it’s doable.

Building on this positive idea (since there’s many negative ones I want to explore), I’d like to talk about another way fun and work can actually reinforce themselves, but without “can I turn my hobby into a job.” It’s something I’ve referred to as “double doing” – finding things in your life that have double benefits beyond just their immediate one.

In this case, you can find ways your hobby benefits your job, and vice versa, without necessarily combining them. Think of it as finding fun that may help you elsewhere in life, and finding work things that help you in your hobbies.

Fun That Helps Work

Sometimes, the things we do for fun have benefits elsewhere. If we want, we can cultivate them and use them to help out in our careers and such. This is just beyond the benefits of “it’s fun” or “it’s relaxing,” while not risking stomping on those by turning something enjoyable into work.

For instance, with myself:

  • My writing is a hobby and always has been. However that helps me a lot at work as I can quickly create documents and so on. I don’t even have to work much at this, I just do it. Plus it makes work fun as I like writing.
  • Coding. Now I’m no longer a pro, so my coding is more of a hobby, but as I work in IT, I’m very aware of coding issues. This helps me work with engineers.
  • Graphic. I’m not a professional, but neither are many other people, so not only do I make book covers and such, I have some skills to bust out at work. Plus it’s nice to be the “graphics guy” when other people get asked to do less fun stuff.

I’d note that all of these things benefit my life in general, not just for fun or at work. I’m literally better at many things as I have fun with them – it’s almost as if not pressuring oneself and enjoying things helps you grow as a person . . .

So for yourself, a challenge:

  • What are your hobbies and interests you truly enjoy?
  • How have they benefitted you on the job. Take time to dig deep, you may be surprised.
  • Is there anything you know how to do that might help at work or make it more fun?

Remember, as always, it’s OK to just say “it’s fun, letting it stay there.”

Work That Helps Fun

However, we should also remember our jobs can be a source of skills, experience, and more that helps us have fun. We’re going to learn things, go places, and meet people that we may actually enjoy. Be open to that.

For myself:

  • Management and productivity. I was always the organized type, but my work skills have helped me a great deal in my hobbies. I’m more organized, better able to pace myself, and more aware of what’s important.
  • Meeting awesome people. I meet great people at work, and I stay in touch with some of them.
  • Industry news. Being in tech, everything I hear abot at work is probably relevant to my life at home. New tech, security updates, and more all impact me.

Now, sometimes I’ve actually overdone using my work experiences for fun – especially my work on self-management, which I’ve overdone. But it’s nice to realize that your job might give you ways to enjoy life more.

I wont lie – many jobs are awful. Some are probably hopeless hellholes. May you get out of those jobs quickly.

Double Doing Does The Job

There’s my thoughts on fun helping work and vice versa without making them the same thing. It won’t apply to you the same it does for me, we are in different situations. It’s my hope you can make this work (and maybe help you find a better job if you can’t).

Steven Savage