Understanding Leisure: Reflections and Insights

Definition of leisure

Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to seek a deeper understanding of leisure by reflecting on the various concepts and theories discussed in class. This assignment is designed to help you: 1) consider personal philosophy or definitions of leisure, 2) seek personal leisure growth through examining some of the most common constraints or obstacles to their leisure fulfillment, and 3) identify personal motivations for leisure activity choices. The Assignment: What To Do The leisure profile involves listing and journaling activities that you are currently involved with and your leisure preferences, indicating the ones you do most often and identifying your favorite activities. Address each of the following discussion points below using your leisure experiences described above, course content discussed in class, discussion questions, and text book material. Every discussion point should include examples from your own life, and link directly to course concepts discussed in this course. Use the following Headings to organize your leisure profile (headings are noted in bold below) and answer the questions for each element. Make sure to follow the additional format instructions found on page 2. Also, review the grading rubric before you start. Definition of leisure: • What is your definition of leisure? Does it align with one we discussed in class? Or, is it a combination of multiple definitions? • Explain why this is your definition of leisure. Leisure experiences: • Track your leisure activities for at least one week. Make sure you name the activity, time of occurrence, where you participate, with whom, how long you have been involved with the activity, and frequency of participation in these activities. A visual such as a table would be a good way to display this information. You may choose to include this information in an appendix if you find you need the 6 pages to discuss the elements of your personal leisure profile (the pages in the appendix would be in addition to the 6 to 8 pages of the profile which is perfectly acceptable; if you append your activities information, in your main report make sure to refer the reader to this content in the appendix). 2 • What things do you do, or experience that represent leisure to you? Are there specific activities you participate in that are leisure, e.g. sport (participant or consumer), recreation (creative, fitness, etc.), consumer (shopping, dinner out, etc.), casual or passive (unstructured e.g. reading, napping, movies)? Provide at least three different examples of leisure experiences. Favourite activities: • From your list above, identify your favourite activity or activities and note why they are your favourite. • Which activity is the one you do most often? • Are your favourite activities and the one you do most often the same? Comment on this. Leisure constraints: • Describe 3 different constraints that often prevent you from participating in leisure or experiencing leisure. Include commentary on how these constraints impact your participation. • Then describe how you can overcome or remove these constraints to increase your leisure repertoire. • Comment on how your leisure would be different if the constraints were not present to begin with (If so, how? If not, why not?). Life stresses: • Identify and list the things in your life that make you feel stressed. • Looking back at your leisure experiences, list the types of activities you do that can reduce your stress. • How can you use your leisure in a different way to cope with your stress in the future? Motivation: • What motivates you to participate in the activities you noted in your leisure experiences? • How satisfied are you with your leisure experiences? Cultural background: • How does your cultural background influence your leisure behavior? Conclusion: • Reflect on your responses for each section above and provide a concluding paragraph(s) that summarizes why you think leisure is important.