Recently, in response to a question posed in a podcast I was listening to, “What makes you the happiest?”, I began remembering the joys of my childhood. Coloring and Colorforms were the first to come to mind, but there were also mini weaving looms for making hot pads, Lincoln Logs, a Lite.Brite, an Etch-A-Sketch, a Spirograph, a Bizzy Buzz Buzz drawing pen, a pogo stick, hula hoops, roller skates with a key, the Bookmobile, the public swimming pool . . . and the list goes on. As a child, my world was filled with fun, creativity, and activity.
In an attempt to reignite some of that fun and creativity into my current life, I purchased a coloring book and markers, and a set of Colorforms. I wanted to return to my childhood state of curiosity, spontaneity, excitement, and sheer delight—if only for an hour each day. As an adult, I was going to have to reconcile having fun with maybe not being good at the activity, or maybe looking stupid trying the activity, or even, gasp, not being able to complete the activity (aka failing). I kept telling myself that none of that mattered as long as I was having fun. And I knew exactly how I was going to do that. I am going to teach myself to juggle. Cool right? I have always wanted to learn to juggle, but it always seemed a bit intimidating and fraught with uncomfortableness. From hitting yourself in the head with the clubs, to dropping the clubs, to the clubs slamming into each other in midair, to the contorted positions I would be assuming to make sure that none of the aforementioned happened, to having to admit that it was much harder than it looks, juggling guaranteed I would be having fun. It was perfect. I’ll let you know how it goes. Oops! What I meant to say is that I’ll let you know how much fun I am having! —Robin
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