Burke, NRPA, and the Importance of a Big Purple Party
Fun is only done right for the sake of fun with no peripheral agendas, hints of business, or underlying purposes. Otherwise, it’s “fake fun”. When fun isn’t real, we don’t get the full benefits.
“We need more moments where we’re simultaneously in the zone and feeling ourselves, but not for work.” – Catherine Price; Author of The Power of Fun
Real fun; unadulterated fun, brings us happiness and joy. We’re enjoying ourselves in the moment, being fully present, without our brains being attached or distracted otherwise. Experiencing happiness and joy on a regular basis is more powerful than genes, nutrition, and exercise for overall health and longevity.
Add friends or a group of friendly, fun people and the effects are multiplied. I used the word “unadulterated” because as adults, we tend to do fun things from time to time, but not fully. We convolute it with thoughts of things we have to get done, “important” stuff (whatever that is), and other obligations. Children get fun right. It’s very important that we do as well.
After 15 years in the parks, recreation, and playground industry, I had the pleasure of attending my first Big Purple Party by Burke. Business and marketing sure, but when it was purple party time, that’s what it was. It was just fun for the sake of fun. It was observable and apparent in the 1,800 people in attendance.
Great band, great music, and dancing. I caught myself a couple of times thinking the music is just a little too loud to have a conversation with someone. Crazy, right? It’s like playing pool volleyball, wondering if the water could be less wet.
This is the playground industry. We promote play and fun. Everyone at the party was a professional working in the parks and recreation industry. It sounds like working in a field with the words “parks”, “recreation”, and “playgrounds” would be all fun and games. While it’s fulfilling and can be fun, it’s a lot of work, stress, moving parts, red tape, politics, management, organization, delegation, responsibilities, and a hundred other things.
It was so good to see all these professionals letting go and just having a good time. We can get caught up in day to day responsibilities and making fun available for others, while we lose track of our own fun. We all need to recharge, reinvigorate, and decompress. This is what I saw at Burke’s Big Purple Party.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at next year’s party.
Play hard!