Leisure Essay

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Leisure… People put different meanings in this simple word. Some of them may decide to travel, others collect stamps, yet other just simply change their daily activities. What does this word mean to me? Leisure can have a much deeper then that. On the surface it may seam that it is just doing stuff during free time, but looking deeper, it shapes who a person is.
When I started to work on this paper, a quote grasped my attention “Leisure is ‘nonwork’ That is, leisure is not remunerative, not required by social expectations, and not necessary for status of survival” John R. Kelly. It describes my early childhood much better than I could do it. How long ago it was! At that time, I had almost all day every day to choose what to do and what to avoid. It was the time when I had no obligations. Most of my time I was playing. In any way, I enjoyed my time. I really had …an opportunity to engage in some kind of activity, whether vigorous or relatively passive, which is not required by daily necessities. Martin H Neumeyer and Esther S. Neumeyer p.17 About that time, I started to take classes in an art studio. I was absorbing all the unknown to me techniques. I simply did not really look at the clock. I was engaged in what I was doing, fully immersed. Leisure is the condition when the person by his own will can spend almost indefinite amount of time enjoying the activity.
Well, time flies by, and we grow up. We came to the United States, and I applied a little different meaning to the word leisure. Along with art and music classes, I spent some time on my computer doing my homework. During my free time I played video games. It distracted me from real life and its obligations. These games gave me some sense of freedom with their ability ...

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...ortantly escape the routine and the deadlines with the only thing on my mind is enjoying the moment. The Leisure Well-Being Inventory captures my current state of leisure perfectly. The score of 56 shows an unhealthy attitude and condition towards enjoying pass time. The results of this are fatigue, buildup of stress, and anxiety. These things negatively impact productivity and creativity. Staying on task and thinking outside the box becomes more and more difficult to do. Graphic design, while being fun and engaging, becomes tedious and difficult. It requires creative thinking, and fully immersed engagement. The qualities that leisure activities possess. Not only should a healthy amount of time be given to uninterrupted free time to unwind, attitudes and principles of leisure applied to work will make it more enjoyable but also more productive and higher in quality.

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