Sunday Box Talk – Scheduling Fun
Unless you plan ahead, you will fail to catch what you’re hunting. This is one of the two baby snow leopards at the Brookfield Zoo, as she tries to catch one of the hanging toys in her habitat.
I know there’s a lot of ink spent on talking about new year’s resolutions about now. I don’t actually go in for that all that much, other than to set an intention for the Roman New Year, since, being Wiccan, my new year is actually at the end of October. But I do think that taking advantage of the collective energy around goal-setting is useful. Here, then, are some suggestions.
Five Tips For Fun
- Put it in your calendar. Each month, set aside at least one weekend day for an outing. It doesn’t have to cost – hiking is free, and many public events are too. Here in Chicago, for example, the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Chicago Cultural Center are both free, as are libraries.
- Don’t scoff at libraries; they’ve had to make it into the twenty-first-century and have embraced it with ebooks, new media, and the old favorite, books. You can get DVDs and music for free, and some offer laptops and even e-readers to patrons.
- Talk about it! Go on Facebook or Twitter and make your intentions public – there’s nothing like knowing others are watching to make us follow through on commitments – even commitments to fun!
- Check out meetup.com. There are thousands of free events, all over the globe, for every type of interest. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, consider starting one. (Hosting a meetup isn’t free, but it’s not exorbitant either; many enterprising hosts, like me, say, ask for donations and receive enough to cover the fees that Meetup charges. Attending is free; hosting is what costs.)
- Take pictures! Use your smartphone, cell phone camera, or even kick it old-school and use a standalone camera to record your daily round. Social media like Facebook and Instagram, not to mention photography forums like Imgur and Picasa, let you share with others around the globe. Make new friends and share ideas!