Want to Have More FUN? Identify Your FUN Magnets.

Did you have FUN this past weekend?  Who were you with?  Where did you have fun?  What were you doing?  Identifying our FUN magnets is part of the roadmap to having more TRUE FUN, which we discussed in last week’s blog: www.thenaturenurse.com/blog/are-we-having-fun-really
 
Catherine Price defines fun magnets as the people, activities, and environments that consistently spark True Fun—a blend of playfulness, connection, and flow that makes you feel fully alive. In her book The Power of Fun (amzn.to/48DIQlV)
she encourages readers to identify their personal fun magnets through a process she calls a fun audit.
Here’s how she characterizes fun magnets:
🎯 What Fun Magnets Are

• People who energize you, make you laugh, or help you feel seen and connected.
• Activities that absorb your attention, spark joy, and leave you feeling refreshed rather than drained.
• Places or environments that invite spontaneity, creativity, or a sense of ease.

​🔍 How to Find Yours

• Reflect on past experiences where you felt truly alive.
• Notice patterns—who were you with, what were you doing, where were you?
• Use these insights to intentionally design your life around more of those elements.

What did I find when I did a self-assessment of what, who, and where are my FUN magnets?  Well, to be honest, I found that many of my FUN magnets, especially people, were no longer alive, living close enough to have regular FUN, or not in the emotional state to have TRUE FUN due to battling diseases, grieving the loss of loved ones, overstressed by fill in the blank, or caregiving.  This is not something Price discusses in her book, so I took some time to honor these losses and recognizing this is a big part of why I was not having as much FUN as I used to.
Perhaps you may find this to be true for you, too.  It is not just loss or changes in the FUN magnet people we have in our lives, it can be loss of your favorite beach house getaway due to beach erosion, or your favorite campground burned down in a forest fire, or was wiped out by flooding.  Activities we may have found FUN in the past may no longer be doable, or maybe you have outgrown them?  Fear not! If we dig deeper, there is FUN to be had!
Once I took some time to grieve the losses I wasn’t aware of, and accepted that I was going to have to put more effort into enjoying the FUN magnets I did have left and find new FUN magnets, things started to turn around.
 
My husband is a FUN magnet for me.  Although sometimes, we forget to carve out time and save some energy for TRUE FUN.  This past weekend, that is what we did.  We spontaneously decided to go away for the weekend to explore Virginia.  We booked a room at an inn in an area that I had bookmarked on Instagram.  We weaved through the backroads and enjoyed the fall foliage.  We gave warm mineral bathing a try and had some laughs during this unique experience.  We met another couple at dinner and compared experiences.  On the ride home, we happened to stumble upon a crowd waiting along the train track for the steam locomotive to pass.  “It’s a big deal around here,” we were told.  So, we got out of the car and waited, and the train was impressive.  Then, the crowd ran to the car and drove like cannonball run down the road to get ahead of the train so they could see it pass by again!  The enthusiasm was contagious, so we followed along.  It was FUN!  

Spontaneity, exploring new places, my husband, trying new things like mineral pool bathing are FUN magnets going down in my FUN journal.  What are you adding to yours?