March sees the UK publication of That Sounds Fun: The joys of being an amateur, the power of falling in love, and why you need a hobby. You might immediately discard this as being lightweight, fluffy, and not particularly relevant. But you would be wrong. This is one of the most powerful books I’ve read for some time.
In 2018, author, podcast host, frequent flier, and conference speaker Annie Downs felt God saying to her that the next autumn she needed to be off the road, staying at home. Despite that usually being her busiest time of the year, she decided to obey that inner voice.
‘As I write these words (in 2019)’ says Annie early in the book, ‘here I am: grounded. All I want to do is slam my computer shut and escape. My mind started dreaming of all the places I could run to and drive to and fly to and be right now. All the other places but HERE. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that even if I did run away, there is no getting away from my insides. It’s as if the sadness has taken residence, and it’s not going to be left behind just because I leave.
And leaving isn’t an option right now anyway.’
Wow, how would she have known as she wrote these paragraphs just how many of us this would apply to. How many of us would feel as though our fun was abruptly taken away, and instead of fun our worries would grow enormously. How many of us would face big losses of all kinds. When God grounded Annie – at a time she could have said ‘not yet, Lord, I’m having too much fun travelling to stop right now – He knew exactly what he was doing. By grounding Annie early, he encouraged her to write a book which is hugely encouraging for all of us who’ve subsequently been grounded. I asked her a few questions about her focus on fun, and its significance in her life and ministry.
What made you start asking people what they do for fun, and why? Why did fun become such an important part of your life?
I think fun has always been a core part of my life. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I looked around and realized the same thing wasn’t the case for most of my friends. So I guess it wasn’t that it suddenly grew in importance to me, it’s that I realized it was neglected by a lot of people around me. I decided to start asking my podcast guests what they do for fun because I wanted the listeners to hear a variety of answers, but I also wanted the guests to walk away thinking about fun in their own lives.
You talk about needing to laugh in the midst of tragedy, about needing to still find fun, and you talk about it not being 'light and breezy'. What do you mean by that? Is there a link between hope and fun, do you think?
Absolutely! When you are having fun, genuinely experiencing something that you would label as fun (even if it wouldn’t necessarily bring fun to everyone else), it reminds you of what COULD be, it lifts your spirit and gives you hope that there are still very good things going on in and around us.
'Fun' is sometimes almost used as a negative word. What makes fun important rather than frivolous?
There’s a certain misunderstanding that fun is childish and fun is frivolous. I would disagree with that, obviously, because I think fun is actually a gateway to honesty, to hope, to connection. It isn’t more serious than its name, it’s just more powerful than it is given credit for. To have fun is to allow yourself to be vulnerable and laugh, to connect with the people around you, even if just for a second (like on a roller coaster), and remember other times when life was like THIS, whatever THIS is. Fun is important because it reminds us there is more to life than the serious things.
Do you sometimes think we expect too much from fun? How do we keep it uncomplicated?
Absolutely. We expect too much from fun when we think it will be the freedom we’ve looked for or the rescue we need or the release we’ve waited on. Fun can be a part of all of those things, but not the fullness of them. We can’t ask fun to fill in a gap that was only meant to draw us closer to God. As they often do, experiences make for poor heroes, poor rescuers, and poor gods. But fun is great for exposing what matters most to us, what brings us joy, and what we long for and miss. We can seek fun and have fun while not expecting fun to be our God.
I found the idea of 'being an amateur' interesting. In a world where achievement is so important, how can we feel ok about 'just doing' and not necessarily 'achieving/going pro'?
I actually still believe achievement is important, it just isn’t the ONLY thing and doesn’t have to be accomplished in every area. If we treat everything like a hobby, we become excellent and professional at nothing, and I’m not sure that’s a good use of this one life we’ve been given. But if we treat EVERYTHING like we have to be excellent and professional, we stop trying new things, we stop sharing ideas and opinions, and we take all our failures far too seriously.
How do you deal with the times when the hoped-for fun doesn't happen, or not right away, such as with your connection with Harvest House? (Note: Harvest House is the home Annie moved into, but took a while to make an emotional connection with.)
Time, time, time. Time helps in all things—in healing, in comfort, in connection. It takes time to decorate for Christmas, to cook a meal, to redesign a porch. All that time equals lots of investment. And the more I invested, the more I loved.
How do you keep day to day life from swamping fun?
It’s a discipline for me, honestly. I look at my calendar every week and literally ask myself, “When are you planning to have fun?” It doesn’t mean spontaneous fun doesn’t show up, it just means that I have lunches with friends planned or a hike outside or time set aside to cross stitch or work on a puzzle. Free time can often turn into chores time or clean-out-the-closet time, but it is good for our bodies, minds, and souls to be intentional about allowing free time to stay free and fun.
How do you think people should start bringing fun back into their lives? Is it just about grabbing opportunities when they arise, or a more intentional process?
I think it’s honestly looking at the life you already have and asking yourself, “What is fun here?” Can you identify anything in your life that brings you joy, makes you laugh, surprises you, helps you rest? That’s a great place to start. But practically, if you look at your life and find NO fun in it, start scheduling it in like a meal or a workout. Make a list, think back to your ten year old self and ask that child version of yourself, “What sounds fun to you?” then maybe do what that little voice says. 😊
Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.
9780800740306, paperback, Revell
(An extended version of a feature written for the Jan/Feb21 issue of Together Magazine.)
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