I read a post from another blogger this morning on what he referred to as the fear of missing out. It seemed to me to be the antithesis of leisure. The post referred readers to another post by a mental health professional of some sort on how this fear of missing out on something more entertaining or interesting is bleeding into many personal relationships and how technology, whether it be the call waiting of 25 years ago or the twitter feeds of today, perpetuate this fear. A right relationship with the concept of leisure might be a decent tonic for such an affliction. But, in the United States, we often speak of the pursuit of happiness, but not its achievement. It is ingrained in our founding documents. The fear of missing out would seem to be the pursuit of happiness taken to an unhealthy, but possibly not unexpected, extreme.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
What is Leisure?
Examples of the elements of leisure abound, as in some of my photographs from previous posts: a walk on the beach with family, a libation to lighten the mood and make hearts glad. But, what is leisure really? It is not idleness; it is not the absence of activity:
"Leisure has had a bad press. For the puritan it is the source of vice; for the egalitarian a sign of privilege. The Marxist regards leisure as the unjust surplus, enjoyed by the few at the expense of the many. No body in a democracy is at ease with leisure, and almost every person, however little use he may have for his time, will say that he works hard for a living - curious expression, when the real thing to work for is dying...we mistake leisure for idleness, and work for creativity. Of course, work may be creative. But only when informed by leisure. Work is the means of life; leisure the end. Without the end, work is meaningless...leisure is not the cessation of work, but work of another kind, work restored to its human meaning, as a celebration and a festival."
R. Scruton
March 1998
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Definition
How many of us every really stop and ask ourselves, what do we want?
The answer often comes down to a matter of money. We often want simply more money. But, what would we do with more money if we had it? Would our material acquisitions simply expand to fill our budget? Mine always have.
Would it not be better to define what we want before searching for ways to make more, as those ways for me have always involved more and more work for the sake of work. I now make more money than I ever have in my life, and I seem to have less of what I want.
Definition is the key. What is it we would do with more money? Establish definitions first and we might find we need much less money than we think.
The answer often comes down to a matter of money. We often want simply more money. But, what would we do with more money if we had it? Would our material acquisitions simply expand to fill our budget? Mine always have.
Would it not be better to define what we want before searching for ways to make more, as those ways for me have always involved more and more work for the sake of work. I now make more money than I ever have in my life, and I seem to have less of what I want.
Definition is the key. What is it we would do with more money? Establish definitions first and we might find we need much less money than we think.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
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