Today Was Fun
You’re walking through your favorite bookshop, latte in hand, when you see the giant words, “Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously).” What’s your gut reaction?
Would you laugh?
Spit-take your latte?
Shout the words “If only!”
Me too. Some days, at least. And yet, having fun at work is seriously something I wish for and try to make happen most days. So, you won’t be surprised to hear that while walking through the San Diego airport a couple of weeks ago, just moments after getting myself set up with my new rolling suitcase (and transferring all of my belongings into it right there on the airport floor), I decided to visit the airport bookshop.
With a small book-shaped space suddenly open, I was on the hunt. A fluorescent-colored smiley face on a book cover caught my eye. Flipping through and seeing section titles like “Most work, most days, should be fun”, “How to do less, better work”, “Talk like a human”, and “Work can be better than sex”, I was intrigued. Seth Godin’s endorsement on the back told me the rest. I couldn’t get it to the cash register fast enough.
I’ve been reading somewhat extensively on the topics of leadership, workplace culture, and job-related significance since around 2017, when I decided it might be a good idea to return to academia after a 14-year hiatus and get my master’s degree. It’s been, well, life-changing, to be honest.
I’ve written about plenty of work-related stuff before, too. . .
👩💻 The Book That's Changing Everything
👩💻 A Reading List To Help You Love Your Work
👩💻 Creating a Location-Independent Business
👩💻 Books About Making More Money
👩💻 The Quote That Changed Everything
👩💻 Updates from Chicago, NOLA, Amsterdam, Boston, & San Diego
But Today Was Fun by Bree Groff is, well, a lot more fun than those other books — and it’s an excellent motivator, too.
I’ve been reading it every morning for two weeks now, and it’s safe to say I’m now completely obsessed with this book.
Here are a few of my favorite parts ⤵
Although you can follow all kinds of advice about how to pick a career or job. . . my advice is this: figure out who you like hanging around, and then go work with them. Because you should like the people you spend your days with. Plain and simple!
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The idea that “nothing worth doing is easy” is just not strictly true. It isn’t always easy to be sure, but it’s definitely not always hard. We have to stop equating struggle with greatness.
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Whether you are a marketing manager, an engineer, or a nurse, your work can be your art. Your stamp! Your power to decide how things should be and what would be cool. To be part of the creation of our magical world.
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How gorgeous is it that we get to play around on the planet and try to make stuff that makes others happy? . . . In the most beautiful version of work I know, we’re all just big kids shouting, “Hey, watch this! Look what I thought of! Look what I can do!”
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And a story that simultaneously broke me & soothed my soul⤵
I sat next to a lovely woman, and as dinner progressed and whisky flowed, the conversation moved from the weather to dead parents (as it is wont to do). She had lost her mother the prior year at the beautiful age of 95. After her mother passed, she and her siblings found a note their mother had left with instructions for her funeral. Songs, flowers, and the like. At the bottom of the note was this single sentence: “I had a great time!”. . . What more could you ask to say as you leave life?
(all quotes from Today Was Fun by Bree Groff, underlines mine)
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I recognize that thoughts about workload, careers, and finding fulfillment through contribution might be complicated for some of us right now. I also realize that this email is coming during a week that has been particularly difficult for so many people, especially in the US, and that reading about choosing better work at a time like this might feel uncomfortable. Part of our struggle comes from thinking it’s selfish to want something more from our work than trading time for money, groceries, housing, etc. etc. But I don’t believe it’s selfish at all. I believe that when the tide comes in, all ships are lifted, not just one. I believe that when we go after what lights us up, we’re doing something good not just for us, but for everyone who will hear our story and come after us. I even wrote a couple of books about the topic :) And while they’re old and definitely imperfect, I stand by them.
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I hope you find heaps of happiness this weekend, my friend. I hope the smiles you give and the things you offer to the people in your world turn the tide for all of humanity, or if we’re lucky, at least make life a little better for the people closest to us.
And should you want to chat about Today Was Fun, any book you love or hate, or anything really, I’m only an email away.
Always.
💛
Celeste
did AI write this? nope, this lady did ⤴ always💛