Major Fun

Some time back, I stumbled upon a man named Bernie DeKoven. It's too bad I don't remember how it happened because I may owe a debt of gratitude to a kind soul who knew how much I would benefit from coming to know Bernie.

I'll just thank it forward.

Bernie has had a full life (to this point! this is not an obit, as he is still kickin') invested in the entertainment and

enlightenment-through-fun of all of those he meets.

He is a teacher, a game designer and developer, a Laughter Yoga guru, the owner and presiding crazy person of a big old barn full of real-life games of all kinds, a fun coach, and the keeper of a thriving internet presence where he is Major Fun, reviewer of games of all kinds. Because he is a trained professional, his reviews touch on lots of aspects of the games he looks at, even as he keeps the Prime Directive in mind: Must. Be. Fun.

He also captains deepFUN.com where he talks about fun in sometimes esoteric ways, yet without losing his great sense of the absurd. But Bernie has his serious side, as well.

Yes, friends, this is Bernie showing us all his serious side.

Bernie notes all kinds of cool stuff on his blog at deepFUN.com, and I would estimate I have invested about eleventy-four man-years of my time in following the links he has posted and investigating things like the Rock/Paper/Scissors-like game which someone designed which has many more than three choices you can throw during the game. How about, oh, 101 possible plays? I cannot imagine anyone learning the correct way to gesture for all 101 possible plays, much less learning the 5,050 outcomes which result from 101 different choices.

Most of all, though, I love Bernie because he loves life so much. He loves life so much that he is willing to devote his to the furthering of fun in the lives of all of us.

It's a big job, and Bernie is taking on the challenge a few people at a time. I don't have the heart to tell him that he is falling slightly behind in his quest. Instead, I'm becoming a student so that I, too, can spread the gospel of fun as a lens which, when life is viewed through it, makes life richer, more precious, deeply satisfying,  fully engaging, and worth every single bit of frustration we endure on our way to our next fun adventure.

I figure we only need a few hundred thousand of us, assuming we spread ourselves efficiently around the world, to properly introduce and inculcate fun into the lives and culture of everyone else. Let's face it--it is catching. So, just as Bernie is infecting people today with his viral Fun message, those of us who get it from him can pass it on. And, there is no treatment other than laughter!