What is leisure?

What is leisure?

To understand what leisure is we have to differentiate the other two words that are related to it. And they are work and spare time.

Josef Pieper definition of work: “Of course the world of work begins to become - threatens to become - our only world, to the exclusion of all else. The demands of the working world grow ever more total, grasping ever more completely the whole of human existence.” I agree with Josef because what he is trying to say is that work can become or is already human slavery for the great demands that is required to each people. And all what people think they need to do is work and they forget about that time they really need of enjoying life. Work is all that we do, is the one we do as a profession when we work on our jobs either as a teacher, fireman or doctor, for the purpose to gain money.

Spare time is a small rest or recovery that we have after all the work we have done. Sleeping and eating are example of spare time. It is a space we have to regain our energy, so then we get back to work and do our job more efficiently.

Josef Pieper quoted: “Leisure is only possible when we are at one with ourselves. We tend to overwork as a means of self-escape, as a way of trying to justify our existence.” And I agree with him because sometimes we are so addicted to work and that’s all what we want to do, it’s like drugs for some people they used them to try to escape from reality. And leisure can be like the rehabilitation to our addiction and the only way that we can get to this is deciding by ourselves. Leisure time is the space we use to do something that we like and that amuses us without any obligation. They are our hobbies, what we enjoy doing, is a daily action not related to home or work, it is a time to enjoy doing something, or just do nothing. For example: playing guitar, cooking or studying. For some people these activities sound like a job but for others it is a distraction and a relief that gives them pleasure and make them forget their problems or makes them forget everything related to work for a period of time.

Josef Piper quoted: “The vacancy left by absence of worship is filled by mere killing of time and by boredom, which is directly related to inability to enjoy leisure; for one can only be bored if the spiritual power to be leisurely has been lost. There is an entry in Baudelaire... "One must work, if not from taste then at least from despair. For, to reduce everything to a single truth: work is less boring than pleasure.” I agree with him in a certain way because what is telling us that work unlike leisure, work is just filling a space of time for us not to be always on leisure time because leisure tends to be too boring. And in order to get rid of that boredom we work because it is less boring.

Many people say that leisure is bad because it is synonymous

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