A viral video is sparking a conversation about adult play. Here are 3 ways to have more fun

SALT LAKE CITY — If your friend asked you to send a video to the group chat carrying a random object down the street, what would you grab? And would you even do it?

A video of Utah friends running and recording just for the fun of it took off, and it's sparked a conversation around adults, play and fun.

Heather Doney said that behind this silly video is this feeling of belonging. She thinks it took off because of something many people are craving: permission to let their guard down. People saw more than a funny challenge. They saw a group of women comfortable enough to be themselves.

"I think that just resonated with most people," she said.

Doney shared how she welcomes the ridiculous and gets comfortable with that level of fun and playful.

Help People Feel Like They Belong

"Everybody wants to feel like they belong," Doney said.

That desire doesn't go away as we age. It can even become more important.

"Finding people who you can be yourself with ... sometimes that's hard to do," she said.

She said when she sent out the text asking for her friends to participate in the video, she knew exactly who to send it to.

Make it Comfortable to Be Playful

Friendship looks different throughout the different seasons of life.

"You've got your ones you grew up with that I meet with every month, and I've got these friends that kind of bring out a spiritual out of me, and I've got these friends who will dress up," she explained. "It's just kind of finding those, the right people and get who you're most comfortable with to let that silly out."

She shared how one group of her friends has gone to the Oogie Boogie Bash at Disneyland for three years in a row.

"We get all dressed up for the Oogie Boogie Bash," Doney said. "This year we were Alice in Wonderland. The Walrus and the Carpenter with the oysters, that was our costume."

Keep Making Room for Joy

"Our lives are hard," Doney said. "We have really hard seasons that we go through."

Right now she is almost an empty nester, a grandma with three kids married and one about to graduate.

"I'm trying to find who I am again," she said.

She said to intentionally add little bits of joy and things to look forward to to your life. It doesn't have to be a vacation or a big event. Doney teaches a fitness class where they did a Dolly Parton-themed day.

"On 9/25 ... I choreographed an entire playlist to my pump class and we all dressed up," she said. "People showed up and they did it."

Find Heather on Instagram, @the.heather.doney.

This story originally aired on KSL TV and has been reformatted for a digital audience using artificial intelligence.