What would childhood be without games? We can extend this question to life in general. What would life be without games?
Games are the essentials in life that we should strive to maintain, no matter how old we are and no matter how exhausted we are. I’m not talking about sports here, although some have a “game” quality about them. I’m talking about the act of having fun while doing certain activities.
Very similar to Mary Poppins. Do you remember that, right after she got hired and went to the children’s daycare, she decided that they should clean up the room? The children were upset and she said they would make a game out of the activity.
“This is a game, isn’t it, Mary Poppins?” was Jane’s concerned question, in which she replied that you have to have an element of fun in everything you do. As a consequence, the activity, instead of being perceived as an ordeal or a task, is perceived as a collaborative game; it becomes pleasant.
So what did Mary Poppins do? She started a song (music is very important), added a little magic to the activity and voila! The kids were engaged and while doing homework everyone was super happy. What a game tidying up the nursery had become!
Now, of course, most of us can’t do magic, even if our lives depended on it (I could use a little magic to clean house, really); but the idea still stands. We sure can add the quality of fun in everything we do (house cleaning included).
So how can we make our daily activities enjoyable? Here are some examples:
1. Cleaning: Play music; dance and sing. Desi Arnaz once put the newspaper in front of the vacuum so she could enjoy the news while she vacuumed the house; you could read a book, like Renee Zellweger did, in Bridget Jones;
2. Folding laundry: watch your favorite movie or talk on the phone with your favorite person;
3. Cook: Do what Cate Blanchet did in the movie “Bandits,” but don’t overdo it or you’ll have a lot of cleanup after dinner is ready and you might regret that bit of fun;
4. Traveling: Listen to great comic relief on CD;
5. Homework: listen to some Mozart while you do it. Surely you have heard of the Mozart Effect.
6. Work: Take breaks every hour or so, take a deep breath, do a little stretching, read some jokes on the internet, play with one of those magnetic puzzles;
7. Errands: Make up a scavenger hunt game and follow it whenever you need to go;
8. Dishes: “The best time to plan a book is while you’re doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie.” You can also plan your next vacation. Enough talk.
9. Buy food: Pretend you are a spy. Look for signs of a bad guy in every supermarket aisle. Make sure no one is spying on you and hide when you see a spy. Anyone can be a counterspy.
10. Mowing the Lawn: Do what Steve Martin did in “My Blue Heaven”: get dressed and read a book while you mow the lawn. People will think you’re crazy. You will feel great!
So here are some simple ideas on how you can use the Mary Poppins Principle to have more fun in life. What else can you think of? Go overboard, overdo it, feel silly. But most important of all, feel good!