100 Days of Wonder – #15
Yesterday I talked about fun. When I was at university in Leicester I would frequently visit my then girlfriend who was doing a degree in PE teaching in Chichester. The way my timetable fell I could often stay for a chunk during the week. I’d take work with me and while she was out in lectures and then playing cricket or rugby, I would wade through contract law cases and work out why, as a 19 year old, I should care about Administrative Law. I distinctly remember declining to join a game of rounders and not even joining the spectators sitting in the sun sipping something pink and alcoholic. Instead I opted for a book. My girlfriend’s comment was: Well you’re no fun. It was a theme that came up repeatedly and at the time I remember being defensive about it. I was fun. Of course I was fun. But was I?
I don’t know. I think it took me a long time to work out ‘fun’. I was bookish and serious and independent and ‘grown up’ as a kid. I continue to be fiercely independent but those moments of silliness and laughing so much that you (nearly -hm) pee yourself that I had always treated as rare and very private moments are now moments I embrace and I’m proud of. I no longer take myself or anything particularly seriously. Fun for me has never been about parties, big groups, playing sports or pranking each other which is I think what Rachel was referring to when she put me in the ‘not fun’ box. Fun for me has been about stories, about shared moments that touch the soul, about seeing others light up and mostly about seeing the ridiculousness of most things in life. Sometimes teaching and researching in law doesn’t lend itself to being fun. I bump up against inequality at best and atrocities at worst all the time in my work, some student stories a re heartbreaking and law is, after all a serious business… but finding your brand of silliness and fun seems to me to be crucial to making sure we look after ourselves when we’re doing work that can be emotional and hard. So if you think I’m mad as a hatter and a bit juvenile – you’d be right, I just don’t think that’s a bad thing.
100 Days of Wonder – #14
Fun. Why do we so often think of work and fun as 2 different things that never really come together? I’ve had a really busy work week with my teaching, teaching cover, a workshop in Worcester, meetings, head of school stuff and general administration plus an Open Day today. Looking at my calendar and the lack of gaps suggests anything but fun. I’m tired, sure but I had soooo much fun this week. I taught something I didn’t think I knew anything about or understood and I loved learning it, I had a really great discussion about Constitutions with our LLM students, I had references to and pictures of the Disney Castle, the Avengers and Figment in my keynote on Wednesday. Many of my meetings gave me chance to check in with wonderful humans and hear about, plan and reflect on exciting things to come. When we get caught up in the busy-ness of life, it seems to me to be even more important to stop and consciously look for the joy and fun in what we’re doing. Pause a minute, stare out into your life in wonder and I hope something makes you smile!
100 Days of Wonder – #13
The picture is of the Contemporary Resort taken from the ferry that connects the Magic Kingdom to the Ticket and Transportation Centre. It was taken in January 2006 and the now familiar sight of the Bay Lake Tower which would be to the left of the building is missing. I talked about familiarity and it’s importance in previous posts but looking at this photo made me think about it more. It’s not just that our brains need something familiar (my base camp in the 100 acre wood) to go explore (learn from), my brain needs the familiar to focus and also sometimes to recharge. I am actually quite happy at the limits of my comfort zone and I like change and new and different. But I also like familiar. I like it to rest my brain and also to focus. I go to the music I listened to over and over and over when I was younger when I am writing. I like writing in my Mum’s house with its mix of things I remember from being little, some of mine and Kath’s old furniture and some new bits and pieces and as much as I like exploring new places and having adventures, I like going back to the Contemporary. The smell as you walk in, the sounds, the knowing where things are. Familiar doesn’t necessarily mean ‘the same as it was’. It’s more about how a place, music, book or whatever makes me feel. I don’t mind Bay Lake Tower now being there, I don’t mind there being new things to discover every time we go. It doesn’t make it any less familiar. I think maybe it’s about not having to think too much about things and just feeling at home in a space or moment.
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