Fun and play are a part of work
For my University of Cambridge dissertation, I’ve been thinking about ways to bring my passion for biomimicry into the research without causing my own scope creep. Now deep into my literature review reading, I found a way to not only avoid scope creep but to use biomimicry and my intense love for nature-based solutions as a way to focus my dissertation. I’m so firmly planted in my happy place now that the hours of work fly by until my sweet old dog toddles over to my desk to tell me it’s time to go out for a walk.
Charles Darwin, legendary naturalist and Cambridge alum, is one of my fun at work icons. He wrote tens of thousands of personal letters over the course of his lifetime. (A collection of the 15,000 that have been found to-date are accessible in the University of Cambridge’s collections). What those letters communicate that his formal academic writing does not show is that his work was so much fun for him that it felt more like play. If Darwin can have fun while doing his research, then I can, too.
So whatever you’re doing today from wherever you are in the world, I hope you’re having fun and that your work lights you up in a way that also lightens your spirit. It’s not too much to ask.
I’ve had moments in my career when my work felt like drudgery. I’m really glad and grateful that I made the changes to change that. It wasn’t easy but for me it was worth it.