launching the fun not fear campaign

Today I am launching this fun not fear campaign on Facebook. The idea came out of conversations with friends and Council members, who, like me, wanted to find a way to use creativity to combat the culture of fear gripping our world.

This is a seriously playful group on Facebook with some ambitious goals in terms of our size and with some hope we can have a modest impact on the level of fear. 

We are foolish and playful but not foolish optimists.  We acknowledge the realities of the moment *and* we think we should combat fear and despair with human creativity. Fun and play are serious business - the joy of creating and having fun - viewing or creating art, walks in the park, dinners with friends, the experience of reading, starting new businesses - can have small but positive impact.

Join us in this playful campaign on Facebook:

- Join the Facebook group

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51914474751

- Join the volunteer team

If you want to help us, then visit this page:
http://funnotfear.typepad.com/fun_not_fear/volunteer.html

And bring a little more creativity and fun to the world.

Phil

Comments

[marsha shenk]

Insights from Neuroscience in the past decade have a great deal to offer in this moment. I applaud the intent of, "Fun not fear", but take the liberty to suggest that the name is both a bit misleading, and not as effective as it might be.

The brain's response to fear is powered by ancient wiring - part of the mammalian brain. It's important to note that the human brain is not wired to move from 'fear' to 'fun'. But we are wired to move from fear to focus on taking care of others.

That can be a highly creative act. In fact, I would say that very pathway is the engine of innovation and progress. We're ingenious finding ways to care for others. How many minutes went by before locals found ways to get people out of the Hudson River when the plane went down in January?

Being ingenious is great fun.

So I invite you to consider: is "Fun not fear" the right appellation to fulfill your purpose? I propose the fun of inventing a more compelling name for the group - I bet you'll attract more members.

[Annalie Killian]

Congratulations on a great idea and a great campaign...and I will wholeheartedly support it. In my company, I already run the Ministry of fun and am currently writing a book on the Business case for Fun at work.

[Roz Trieber]

I am speaking to a group of women this evening to hopefully inspire them to create a life of optimism and joy by learning improvisational skills, telling stories, and rediscovering their sense of humor. The challenge will be to have them identify what will motivate them to bring joy to others and themselves as well.

Roz Trieber
www.cancerrocks.com