Why Having Fun Is the Secret To A Healthier Life: Catherine Price (Transcript)

Video why having fun is the secret to a healthier life

Here is the full transcript of Catherine Price’ talk titled “Why Having Fun Is the Secret To A Healthier Life” at TED conference .

In this TED talk, science journalist Catherine Price delves into the often overlooked importance of fun in maintaining both mental and physical health. Price argues that the modern understanding of fun is superficial, frequently conflated with mere distractions or activities that don’t genuinely bring joy.

Through her research and anecdotes, she proposes a more profound definition of fun, emphasizing its crucial components: playfulness, connection, and flow. These elements, when experienced together, not only enhance our sense of well-being but also foster a deeper sense of aliveness and joy. Price suggests practical steps to incorporate more fun into our lives, such as minimizing distractions, fostering real human connections, and embracing a spirit of playfulness.

By prioritizing fun and recognizing its role in our overall health, Price asserts that we can lead more fulfilled and resilient lives. Her talk is a compelling reminder of fun’s transformative power, urging us to treat it not as a frivolous afterthought but as a vital component of a healthy lifestyle.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

The Challenge of Feeling Alive

You know what’s a lot harder than it seems like it should be? Actually feeling alive. And what I mean by that is that we are all constantly doing, or, at least, we’re constantly scrolling. But we’re not necessarily living. You know, we keep ourselves busy to the point of exhaustion, but we’re also languishing. We feel a little bit dead inside.

And I think we know that, on some level. I think that’s part of the reason we keep ourselves so busy and distracted to begin with. But we don’t know what to do about it. So I’m here to tell you I figured out what to do about it: We need to have more fun.

So you might think that you’re already having plenty of fun, and that’s because in our everyday speech, we often use the word “fun” to describe anything we do with our leisure time, even if it’s not actually enjoyable, and, in fact, a waste of time. So for example, we scroll through social media “for fun,” even though doing so often makes us feel bad about, like, kind of everything.

Or we’ll say, “That was so fun. We should do that again soon” in response to things that weren’t that fun and that we don’t want to do again, ever. But it’s not really our fault that we’re a little bit sloppy about how we use the word “fun,” because even the dictionary doesn’t get it quite right. It says that fun is amusement or enjoyment, or lighthearted pleasure. It’s something for kids to have in play areas. It makes it sound like it’s frivolous and optional.

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