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

Leisure

The first gin & tonic of the season:

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.

Definition