All I want to do is have fun. (Yes, like that Sheryl Crow song—minus the day drinking on a Tuesday with a stranger named Billy in a dive bar.)

Maybe it’s because I recently turned 50 and am simultaneously celebrating! with! unending! Champagne! (but not on Tuesdays at noon) and also peering with indubitable clarity at the end of it all. I want to keep the party going and I know the lights will be turned off soon. (Okay that’s dramatic: by “soon” I mean “I have 1,696 Mondays left,” which is obviously way less dramatic.)

This is Andy. He is still dead.

Maybe this All I Want to Do is Have Fun yearning is a retaliatory response to 2025, which had a lot of unfun moments… like my dad losing a lot of his health and a little of his mind and moving against his desires into assisted living (SO NOT AS FUN AS EVERYONE PROMISED THAT WOULD BE), like me grappling with eating issues yet again (UGHHH), like our dear cat of 18 years—yes, Andy, thank you for remembering—dying after a rather drawn out illness that required The Husband and I to give him daily IVs at home (YES THAT WAS CLEARLY PUNISHMENT FOR SO MANY SINS IN SO MANY PAST LIVES AND PROBABLY ALSO THIS LIFE NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT), and maybe more things but whatever. 2025 is dead and gone! And so out of the ashes this Pheonix is like, “where’s the party?”.

So I’ve made two big decisions lately, all in The Interest of Feeling Fun.

One: I embarked upon on a book project that I am giddy with the ridiculousness of. Gahhh! A new book! I can’t tell you the details yet (which maybe makes it more fun, being secretive about something so silly) but I will super soon, and just know that I wasn’t drinking heavily with Billy when I decided to do it (that’s not true—I was probably tipsy, but why breathalyze the fun out of this project?).

Here is a teaser doodle just to keep you engaged and ready to preorder like 7 copies when I start harassing encouraging you (in a fun way) to do so:

Two: I started a podcast with a new friend! I have never wanted to start a podcast—even with myself, who is my favorite person to work with. But I met Mike Steger in the last year; he’s a meaning and purpose researcher and Professor and although that makes him sound insufferably serious, he’s a total fucking riot. We found ourselves together in a Zoom breakout room (in a cool workshop you need to take), and because I was laughing hard enough and long enough to be concerned about my bladder, I didn’t have to pause to think about it when the idea of us doing a podcast came up. (It’s called This Could Be It—we talk all about how to make sense of life when it will never really make sense anyways—and you should totally listen/ subscribe/ give it glowing reviews/ spritz your face with it).

Do you tend to overthink things? I do, too. I weigh if an opportunity makes sense, if it’s worth it, if the ROI adds up (well that’s not true I’m rarely doing actual calculations). My motto for some time has been Don’t Think, Just Do (not because I aim to be impulsive, but because I know I’ll have already done enough thinking and at some point I just need to take action). I’m finding it a lot easier to stop thinking and “Just Do” when I’m going with my gut, when I feel like it’s in line with the thing that’s piquing my curiosity or my interest or just sounding like fun.

Because fun has emerged as a priority value as of late, decisions are easier. Saying yes to something interesting feels more like a natural reflex now, not something I need to ponder into the pavement. Fun might not be your priority right now—I’m not here to say it has to be. Maybe you’re pursuing All Things Zen these days, and if you’re really in tune with that value, you can make more natural decisions that align with zenniness. So if you’re given a choice to work on a big and exciting and stressful project at work… you can more confidently pass on the opportunity. And if you’re offered the chance to join a silent weekend retreat, you can confidently (but very quietly) make the decision to attend with (subdued) gusto.

Tune into what matters to you today. It might be different than the thing you cared about last year, and it might look different a year from now. That doesn’t matter. Parents age! We fall off the rails! Cats die! Priorities change. Welcome to the experience of being alive. If you know what your current hot-to-trot values are, you can make way better decisions. And isn’t life just a bunch of moments stitched together that we get to decide upon? Whether to go to the gym (*ughhh*), whether to curl up and read the next chapter, whether to go out dancing, whether to call your Dad… the list goes on. I hope you choose the life you’re longing to live.