Fun

Recently Chris Coyier was noting how great Balatro is. Having recently 💯ed my Balatro collection and continuing the long-term (borderline ridiculous) goal of getting the "Collection+" achievement to get a gold stake sticker on every joker, I can attest to the statement.

I thought it was notable that when he posted his article on Bluesky it was labeled with...

to which I replied...

I think this concept that you can lose hours to enjoyment is notable. I often criticise myself for "spending" time playing: playing games, playing music, playing sports. It's not productive, right? Because we're not moving towards the capitalistic ends that support our creativity?

Let me be clear here:

Fun is productive

Joy is productive.
Rest is productive.

Fun generates creativity and mental renewal; joy fuels motivation; rest enables sustained effort; emotional processing develops resilience; connection builds support systems; and intentional nothingness creates space for insight.

The very concept of "wasted time" assumes a hierarchy of valuable activities, typically with work at the top. But this framework is imposed rather than inherent. Play, rest, contemplation, and even boredom can be generative in ways that aren't immediately measurable.

A more holistic view of productivity recognizes that the activities sustaining our wellbeing aren't opposed to productivity but are essential components of it. The moments between working on the problem often contain the seeds of our best ideas and strongest motivations. How often does the answer arise when you're not expecting (going for a walk, sitting in stillness, et al)?

By valuing the inversed elements of work as productive, we move toward a more sustainable and fulfilling relationship with how we spend our time and energy—one that honors our complete humanity rather than just our capacity for output.

Consuming is productive

One of my personal favourite productivity and creativity thinkers Tiago Forte often triggers me (in great ways) in his more black & white statements. If you've read Tiago, you know that he doesn't truly think in these types of binaries, but I find his posts helpful in ruminating on what you value. One of his more popular tweets states:

Taken as a literal factual statement, sure, typically we don't literally put the things we consume on our resume, but as a creative act, what we consume shapes what we create. I make music, but the precursor to making is, of course, listening, and refining my understanding of what exists, such that I can mold my interpretation into a work of art.

Nothing is created per se—everything that can be learned about or created, in a sense, already exists—as creatives we act as vessels through which our ability to notice is expressed.

With this in mind, I've always—since I first launched typeoneerror.com in 2003 (wow, I'm old)—posted what I am reading, listening to, watching, consuming. I believe it's fundamental to understanding my work and me as a participant in collective creativity.

Hobbies absolutely can go on the resume. They tell people who might want to hire you more than you think.

Doing "nothing" is productive

I recently finished reading an older book from 1971, Joseph Chilton Pearce's The Crack in the Cosmic Egg. It's about as woo as it gets and it's dated, but I still enjoyed it (insofar as I could understand half of it).

In it, Pearce explores how our perception of reality is shaped by cultural conditioning and mental habits that limit our potential. Pearce argues that we live within a "cosmic egg" of consensual reality that defines what we believe is possible, but that this egg can be "cracked" through shifts in consciousness.

Drawing from a multitude of fields, he suggests that by challenging our ingrained belief systems and embracing new modes of perception, we can access expanded states of awareness and creativity that transcend conventional boundaries.

The book proposes that human potential is far greater than commonly understood, and that by breaking through these self-imposed limitations, we can experience personal transformation and tap into extraordinary capabilities that our conventional worldview dismisses as impossible.

So, yeah. Woo.

In one of my favorite sections of the book, Pearce notes...

Enjoying and consuming art and thought from others therefore is not only important to creation, but fundamental.

Nothing arises independent of an environment. Pearce essentially says we make discoveries and answer the questions that plague us by creating the conditions and environment for the answer to arise in. In a sense, what we consume defines the parameters for the containers in which we create and discover truth.

Pearce further speaks of these "eureka" moments—perhaps the moments where we actually discover/create the "thing"—as "...illumination, the final breakthrough of the postulate occuring at a moment when the logical processes have been momentarily suspended in a moment of relaxation from serious work."

In other words, the moments in between the work. When you're doing "nothing" productive.

These are your classic "shower thoughts"; the synthesis of ideas that lead to understanding and creative output after a dream; a relaxing moment where a renewed understanding is gleaned, driven by something seemingly unrelated ("apophenia", of course, where my handle typeoneerror is derived!).

Of course, what you consume does matter—it shapes your thinking, informs your work, and builds your knowledge base, the transformation of that consumption into creation is where the real "value" lies. But is the environment valuless? Is there no value to highlighting what we consume?

Perhaps the key distinction isn't between consumption and creation, but between passive and active engagement. There's a difference between casually consuming content and deeply engaging with ideas in ways that transform your thinking and capabilities, even if that doesn't immediately result in a tangible creation.

What we consume helps form who we are and how we think. The wisdom comes in discerning which consumption experiences genuinely contribute to your capabilities and story in meaningful ways worth highlighting.

Does my 100% Balatro collection say anything about my hirability? Perhaps not directly, but it reveals what I value, what drives my interests, and potentially what I might be excited about creating. Beyond that, it opens doors to connect with others over shared gaming experiences.

I think we've developed an unhealthy tendency to strip play from our professional identities—as if enjoying games or leisure activities somehow diminishes our worth. We become almost ashamed of "wasting time" or pursuing joy outside of capital-generating endeavors.

What if we took a different approach? What if we embraced play and recuperation as essential; as legitimate parts of our working lives? What if our resumes intentionally highlighted the things that bring us joy and fuel our creativity? Not just as trivial hobbies, but as meaningful activities that shape who we are and how we approach challenges?

Sounds fun to me.