Tasks and Leisure

Tasks and Leisure

So, what do you like to do when you aren’t doing what you have to do? There is an old saw that I love, “To have leisure is to live as the gods.”

I like to joke that I will spend my free time lying on the floor staring at the ceiling. I always imagine it with my arms spread wide and a stupid grin on my face, a posture I spent time in as a kid on lovely summer days, cloud gazing.

Ahhhh.

But I digress.

I think about my ancestors, and how their lives were compared to the way I get to live. I think about how hard the women worked to keep their homes, how hard the men worked, and how uncomfy stuff was. I mean, I love central climate control. I love vacuums and other machines that make stuff so fast and easy. They worked their patooties off so that now I can enjoy some free time pretty much every day. Thank you, ancestors!

Why do I take time off? What makes me relax? Why do I enjoy my hobby?

Leisure time is priceless. I was fascinated to learn that our word “school” comes from the ancient Greek word for leisure. Many of us have stuff to do to keep our lives, and the lives of our loved ones, running smoothly. We have to wash stuff, and sweep stuff, and wipe stuff down, and change stuff, and buy stuff and put stuff away. We have to do a lot of that every day. And then we have to acquire and consume food and drink, clean ourselves, dress ourselves, move ourselves around, rest ourselves. Whew!

When we have down time, we have time to make choices that can enhance our lives. We can choose from a wide assortment of activities that will make stuff better, give us joy, and be fun. When we stay on top of our stuff, we don’t need to run away from our feelings, and so we can use our leisure enjoying ourselves rather than distracting ourselves. I like that so much more.

As we get better at using our leisure time, we may discover a hobby or hobbies that we love. Some of us decide that we will make a living from our hobby, and do that. Some of us decide that we love the change of scenery that we get from our hobby. Some of us like to learn stuff in our leisure time. Some of us like to travel, or see shows, or be in shows. Choices abound for wonderful, fun, interesting, challenging, delightful ways to spend our time.

How do I enjoy my free time? Why do I value my leisure? What makes me take down time?

When we have balance between our work and play, we feel good. We feel satisfied and productive in our labors, and satisfied and productive in our off-time. When we let that balance go off-kilter, we may feel like a drudge, or taken advantage of at our work, or we may feel bored or at loose ends in our free time. Being able to pick up on this right away is another advantage of being self-aware. Once we notice it, we can modify what we are doing to that we regain our balance. One of the activities that helps me keep that sense of balance is my meditative time on my porch between the end of my work day and the beginning of my evening activities.

How have I changed from being out of balance to enjoying both my task time and leisure time?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2014 all rights reserved 03122014

What are your favorite leisure activities?