reposted from the HuffingtonPost Women

I decided a few months ago that I wasn’t having enough unadulterated fun. I was too busy being serious, researching important but concerning topics, working long hours and not spending nearly enough time living life with more abandon. Now nobody has ever accused me of being too conservative, acting too rationale or playing it safe but nevertheless, I was still feeling that my life was bordering on boring and I needed to desperately ratchet up the fun factor.

So I set out to accept all invitations that came my way for parties, fundraisers, art openings, Spa dates, happy hours, wine tastings (lots of offers of these in the Napa Valley) and generally anything else that crossed my path that smelled like FUN for one month. It was amazing how many opportunities pass by your view in any given month if you are looking for them. All of the sudden the doors of the funhouse flew open and I was spending more time being wonderfully engaged in joyous, light hearted and amusing activities with lots of people also interested in filling up some part of their week having fun. Long evenings alone sitting in front of my computer screen were now replaced with movies, dinner dates and girls night out.

The best part about this new agenda was that I didn’t have to quit working to engage fully in my fun month. Instead I continued to work and actually felt more inspired and creative than I had in a long time. By pushing the fun factor up a notch or two, I found much more to think about, write about and share. I met lots of new people and learned about upcoming events and activities in my local area that I would have completely missed. Ideas for new stories and interesting personalities for radio interviews rushed towards me during my month of fun like rapids in a river. I had lists of characters and places around town that I wanted to learn more about, meet up and visit.

As my designated fun month was ending, I began to find excuses to extend my enjoyment into the next month. How could I miss that art exhibit, cooking class or vodka tasting? Why say no when I had so much fun saying yes? It was impossible not to want to meet up with new friends or learn something interesting. My intellectual curiosity was soaring and I definitely felt this new, or more likely, renewed vitality that came with my re-engagement with the world around me. I didn’t need to fly cross country or plan an exotic trip to find real joy day to day. Possibilities that appeared hidden before were showing up in bright Technicolor before my very eyes. I was finding my way back to that happy place buried deep inside myself and once that door cracked open there was no way to stop the flow of openheartedness and opportunity.

And the next month rolled into the next and here I am watching my fun month become my fun life—just like that.