“So Fun!” 🤪 The missing ingredient in your storytelling

As you may have heard, I recently achieved a notable milestone: 10 years of my (solo) business. 

To celebrate the occasion I gathered a few friends together for an evening of zine-making. I created a simple template, brought out a bunch of materials and examples, poured some wine, and let my guests get to work. 

Throughout my life, I’ve often been the one coming up with wacky ideas and games and trying to get other people to come along for the ride. Other kids were not always as keen as my twin and I were to get their hands dirty so to speak, though we were fortunate to have some good friends along the way – including cousins, neighbours, and our passel of fellow teenage punks.

While I personally love being a beginner and trying new things, I recognize that doing something different can feel uncomfortable. And for many people, creative play can feel really uncomfortable — maybe even downright scary. There’s something about making things, whether with words or pictures, that seems to trigger embarrassment or hesitation. Maybe it was because we were judged and graded on our way, often in a very public way, as youngsters.

Yet making things — in the spirit of play, with zero purpose other than having fun — is liberating. It’s often a necessary step in order to make art, or do meaningful work. Beyond that, it has the potential to open us up to new stories, perspectives, and ideas we haven’t considered before. Sometimes it even shows us things we aren’t quite ready to see yet. (And maybe that is part of what makes it scary?)

Besides all that, it’s fun. And fun has value in and of itself. 

I always feel so grateful when people will play along with me, whether that’s workshop guests who are willing to try out my exercises, or my pals at my zine-making party. So you can imagine my delight when I heard people say things like, “I haven’t done anything like this in a loooong time!” or simply, “this is so fun!”

Somewhere along the way, I think we all dropped into a kind of flow state, because before we knew it, hours had gone by and it was way later than we expected it to be. That disappearance of time is one of the best (though rather inconvenient) parts of the process, and I was delighted to share a bit of that experience with my friends. 

So, to bring this back to you and your storytelling: why not treat yourself to some time that is purely for play?

You can do this with just about anything, but it’s certainly something you can apply to your storytelling, writing, and even thought leadership. 

For example, if you’ve fallen out of the habit of writing, try setting aside some time (maybe 20 minutes) to write something fun. Maybe it’s a short story. A page of stream-of-consciousness writing. A poem. Heck, it could be a dirty limerick. Whatever grabs you and feels fun to you right now. 

You don’t have to share it with anyone. It doesn’t have to turn into anything. Just write, or make something — anything — and see where it takes you. You just might lose track of time, in a good way!


P.S. For more on this subject, you might enjoy listening to my podcast featuring PLAY expert Janet Omstead, who explores health and fitness through the value of a playful mindset. Have a listen here: podcast.camilledeputter.com/e/episode-8-how-to-play-more-with-janet-omstead