I’ve been thinking about joy lately.

I don’t particularly care for the word; every word has its own personality, and the word joy seems to conjure up an image of an old lady with dentures and pearls. The word just feels outdated. Mothballesque, if you will.

Nevertheless, the concept remains.

It’s stuck in my mind ever since a One Night Stand client was telling me about her business, and commented that the reason that people (her clients) gain weight isn’t because they love food; it’s because they lack joy.–

It got me thinking about my own habits.

I’ve always tried to make fun a part of my business model. The rationale goes that when you don’t have enough fun, you start to resent your work–no matter how awe-inspiring–and it all goes downhill from there. On the other hand, however, when you make dedicated time for fun, and imagine it in terms of the ultimate ROI (return on investment) you’ll see in the quality of your work, it seems like not only a good business move, but a necessary one.

Harder said than done.

With only 24 hours in a day, and an unlimited number of potential projects (and deadlines!) that can be taken on, it becomes difficult to remember to put fun at the top of the list.

You fall behind.

Your inbox piles up.

You get overwhelmed.

And fun takes a backseat, because it seems to be the one thing on your to-do list that’s negotiable.

But in my opinion, it’s the one thing that shouldn’t be.

Aside from greater ROI in terms of quality of output of your work, there’s a million other reasons it should be at the top of the list–like quality of life, for one.–

Too often I think we forget that we’re here on earth to play.

Life really wasn’t meant to be so serious.

So demanding.

So unyielding.

So forced.

Yet, we always manage to find ways to make it just that.

So, it’s Friday.

A perfect excuse to blow off work and go do something fun for yourself.

That’s right: Fucking blow off your work for today. I said it. And I mean it.

Go.

Feel.

Be.

Play.

LIVE.

Your work will be there when you return.

The day, however, won’t be.