Proof of Fun
My friend Anne asks her kids to send her “Proof of Fun.”
She came up with this trick to get her teenaged daughters to stay in touch. When they are out with friends, she asks them to snap photos of what they are doing. And all they need to do is text her a photo or two now and then.
When they head out the door, she will say, “Don’t forget to send Proof of Fun!”
It works great.
She has a sense of what they are up to, which helps ease mom worries—but she doesn’t need to keep checking in to ask what they are up to. And they have fun sending her silly photos with their friends.
Proof of Fun helped me to have a good week this week myself.
It was a bit of a rough travel week—I covered eight different states in seven days.
It started out in Michigan and Illinois on Sunday. And I then spent Monday in Texas, Tuesday in New Hampshire, Wednesday and Thursday in Arkansas, Thursday night in Georgia, Friday morning in Massachusetts and New Hampshire again, and Saturday at a retreat in Connecticut.
Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it?
I admit it was a bit over the top.
Let’s put it this way: I wouldn’t want to do this every week.
However, it was a great week. Extremely fulfilling even.
I facilitated three retreats: one for a YMCA, one for a camp for kids with special needs and medical diagnoses, and one for an organization that runs 19 shelters for people experiencing homelessness.
To hang out with three organizations that are doing this kind of good work in the world? That is a privilege, no matter how far I have to go to get there.
But even between eight flights and over 500 miles driven, I have Proof of Fun afterwards.
I have great photos from a weekend with former co-workers on Lake Michigan. While in Texas, I had a relaxing dinner with my oldest niece. Back at home, I had dinner one night with four of my besties from college. And on one of those seven days, I played 2 ½ sets of tennis with some tennis friends.
Oh, and on my day of rest at the end, I had a massage. And a pedicure!
(And I had a few meals with my partner when I was home, which felt like a gift after so much time away).
It doesn’t get better than that.
During the retreat with the organization that supports people experiencing homelessness, we did an opening exercise where each person shared a moment of joy in their life. As we heard story after happy story, resilient tales, such as growing up with a single mother or in an area rife with gangs and then watching the smile on their grandmother’s face as they walked down the aisle to get their master’s degree, it reminded me of why I do this work.
Because I love it.
I didn’t participate in the exercise because I was helping facilitate it. But if they had asked me for a moment when I experienced joy in my life, I would have said, “This moment right now.”
Listening to and celebrating all of their joy.
I took a photo of that retreat. Proof of Fun.
And from this amazing week, I shared other Proof of Fun photos with my partner, my family, and friends—and that brought them joy too.
At the end, of course, I was exhausted and ready for my day of rest on Sunday. But I learned something about work-life balance this week. A crazy travel schedule can work out just fine if you have lots of moments of joy in between.
If your work is meaningful, and you love it, and you don't get all focused about how hard a work week it will be, the time feeds you rather than drains you. And if you sprinkle fun in between, it’s a pretty darn awesome week.
Lots of Proof of Fun.
What Proof of Fun can you send from your own week this week?
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