Without Work, There Can Be No Leisure - Essay Example

Without Work, There Can Be No Leisure Name Course Tutor Date A lot of research is going on concerning leisure. Many scientists believe that there can be no work without leisure. Others scientist argues otherwise. During certain times in life, a person would feel to be out of work and join with family and friends to spend some free time in form of relaxation. It is our dream to be free to pursue what we want and to spend our time meaningfully in pleasurable ways(Harwoth, 2002). This paper aims at discussing the importance of work and leisure. The paper also discusses their importance and the advantages they have in our social, economic, psychological, and environmental lives. Balancing between leisure and work can be very difficult especially with toughening economic circumstances and rapid competition at work place. Managers and employers need results and profits at the end of the month. These conditions leave most of us exhausted. It is therefore difficult to take time for pleasure especially due to such work place pressures. Personally, I believe that both are essential for effective living. For this purpose, we need to balance between leisure and work since they are both important. There might not be a standard definition of leisure but we can break down the meaning of leisure into the following ways. According to Albert Bandura, leisure activities are essential throughout the lifespan of an individual in terms of growth and development.Abraham Maslow in his hierarchy of needs was also keen to point out that leisure is necessary for an individual to attain self-actualization. John Finnis a theorist concluded that leisure is necessary for wellbeing. These theorists all believe that leisure is an important aspect that must be observed by humans in order to achieve a certain level of psychological satisfaction(Lewis, The integration of paid work and the rest of life: is post industrial, 2003). Leisure is defined as time free from obligations such as work and tasks for normal life. Leisure is also an activity that people engage in while free from activities which are work oriented and do not involve life maintenance such as cleaning and sleeping. The activities may include reading, meditating, physical activities such as sports, and mostly hobbies. Another definition of leisure is leisure as state of mind. In this case, the human mind is subjected to perceptions such as motivation. Motivation in this case is intrinsic. A person may perceive leisure as competence, and positive effects during their free time. Leisure is also a type of play. The play in leisure is imaginative, internally motivated, not serious, freely chosen, and actively engaging. Play is done inherently to pleasure and is characterized by spontaneity, joyfulness, and inhibition. Recreation is another way that defines leisure. Recreation is an activity that people engages in while free. It involves people enjoying and becoming socially oriented. During recreation, the activities performed are perceivedto be of less important than the activity itself hence the meaning. Leisure as recreation requires that the activity be in accordance with the norms and values society such that it is acceptable to the whole society. Recreations contribute positively to the society since they take different directions. There are increased psychological benefits of engaging in leisure and recreation activities. Some of the advantages include; high and increased sense of freedom, enhanced and improved self-competence, high self-esteem and self-confidence, better leadership skills, improved social status as one can relate to others in a positive way. There is also a better perception in terms of religion, value clarification, increased cognitive efficiency, ability to solve problems, high ability to adaptation and resilience, improved sense of humor, improved value of life, balanced and valued competitiveness, increased ability to learn about culture, history, and nature, and reduced personal sense of social orientation. According to Albert Bandura, leisure activities are essential throughout the lifespan of an individual in terms of growth and development. Abraham Maslow in his hierarchy of needs was also keen to point out that leisure is necessary for an individual to attain self-actualization. John Finnis a theorist concluded that leisure is necessary for wellbeing. These theorists all believe that leisure is an important aspect that must be observed by humans in order to achieve a certain level of psychological satisfaction in life(Witt P, 2005). In summary, psychological benefits of leisure becomes part of our daily lives without us realizing. This means that psychological benefits of leisure are the easiest ones and the cheapest means of leisure benefits that we come across in our daily activities.Through leisure activities, societies have been able to instill positive values and behavior in the community. Leisure activities such as sweeping and cleaning the environment help in instilling positive behavior of environmental protection. The youth within the society may also engage in annual events that aim at improving the social relationships within the community(Mahoney J et al, 2005). For example is when the youth engages in visiting the sick in the hospital, visiting the orphan in their orphanages, visiting the prisoners in the prisons and many others. All these are social leisure activities that aim at improving the identity of the community and the society and meeting their unique needs. Leisure also provides time for families to meet and bond together. This helps in improving the social family lives. Families are able to come together and interact. This improves family ties, trust and improves the meaning of life in general. According to many researchers, there is increased evidence that social support and companionship contributes to longer, happy, quality, and disease free life(Jarvie, 1997). Most of the community centers in our societies provide leisure centers aiming at changing behavior. Psychologically, children need more leisure time at the early stages for proper growth and development. It is therefore very essential that positive and good leisure and recreation environment be provided to children as they grow. There have been concerns regarding the rising cases of crime, drugs and substance abuse, and other social illness within the society(Kirkcaldy B.D, 2002). It is believed that through provision of better social activities and services within the society, there is possibility of significant reduction in such negative social behaviors. Social activities are also related to proper educational benefits that people in the society enjoy(Robbins L, 2009). In summary, social advantages of leisure occur less often. This is because they engage groups for example family members, friends, workmates, and many others. Benefits of social leisure activities are achievable especially through proper management activities at work. Most organizations organize social activities like open days, sports day, and parties as a means of enhancing good work relations(Holder M Coleman, 2007). Leisure was a thing in the past and man scientists did little research about it until only recently. Economic development during ancient civilizations engaged leisure activities such as slave labor, military dominance in addition to exploitation of resources by certain groups in the society. In ancient Greek times, leisure was seen as a way to divide the classes as leisure was seen as elite and work was a symbol of the lower class. Therefore, a dichotomy, which dictated important issues within society, without work in those days leisure, would not have been attainable by the elite, as it was the working class, which made leisure possible(O’Neil, 2002). Aristotle viewed leisure in a different way. According to him, leisure was a condition or state of mind or state of being free from activities of labor(Gershuny, 2000). Aristotle excludes labor from his definition but insist that obligation and necessity must accompany leisure. The way in which leisure, as the antithesis of work, fits in to the protestant work ethic is through moderation and not overly indulgent, the paradox is based on working hard to accumulate profit but not too over indulge in the benefits as leisure can turn to sloth if overindulged. The protestant work ethic viewed work as an important spiritual attribute and leisure as a reward for work (in moderation) therefore work and leisure were seen as a pair and without work, leisure would not have been acceptable(Lewis, Sense of entitlement to support for the reconciliation of employment and family life, 2001).It can be said that one of the reasons economic improvement was not reached was due to not enough leisure, which may have had a detrimental impact on productivity of workers(Haworth, 1975). Over several centuries, work gradually evolved from a religious and moral duty to a economic obligation as a way to fuel consumption and with this leisure adapted also to become free time after the working day was over with no restrictions on how the time was spent. World War II left many people jobless and without houses. People becamepoorer after the war. The civil war revolutionized the concept of leisure. It was clear that the social conditions were so unfavorable leading to immigration, crowding, inadequate housing, theft, increased in diseases, child labor, long hours of working, and increased competitive form of economic system(Hirsch, 1977). These forced leisure activities made the doings of the wealthy more attainable for the working class and therefore took focus away from alcohol and prostitution with activities like train trips to the beach, being the popular activity among the wealthy.People needed to alleviate all this form of pressure and only leisure was the solution to this problem. During those times, workers also received minimal pay for purchasing their needs, which included social and cultural needs. However, with scientists such as Abraham Maslow, the concept of leisure has developed to be a necessity if success is to be achieved industrially. The growth of industrialization saw the establishment of work and leisure as an equal necessity for the society’s future economy through earning wages and spending those wages on leisure as a way to stay productive(Cromptom, 2001). Theorist like Max Weber also encouraged the function of leisure a work. According to this Weber, management of business organization requires strict management and adherence to rules and regulations, which includes leisure(Roberts, 1999). According to Weber, any deviation from the formal structure interfered with efficient management. His concept of division of labor at work led to efficiency. Weber argued that one performed better in his/her area of specialization and this was necessary for efficiency. With regard to areas of specialization, Weber meant that people engage in their leisure activities best known to them. Since the early 1950, the perception of leisure has changed drastically with the improving science and technology. In ancient times people engaged in leisure activities with no automation of machinery(Veal, 1987). The modern world now engages people’s social and physical leisure activities with machines. Almost all-sporting training is done using machinery unlike the ancient times. The Greek and the Romans celebrated their leisure most of the time and delegated tough manual labor for the lower class in the society(Warr, 2002). Development into Christianity has also engaged lots of debate. God was very keen to include a concept of leisure in His ten commandments. In one of His commandments, God says that we obey the Sabbath and keep it Holy. This concept was greatly observed by the Pharisees. This means that God intended man to work hard for 6 days and rest on the seventh day. Without the resting day, God knew that people would be exhausted and would not be available for work on the following days. For this purpose, I believe that there cannot be work without leisure. Christianity has therefore played a major role in promoting leisure especially during the days of industrialization. The ideology of the Protestant work ethic views work as ‘good and leisure is valued only as it contributes to work’(Linder, 1970). In conclusion, I would agree with theorists like Abraham Maslow, Max Weber and many others that support the introduction of leisure activities in between working conditions. The small breaks between work helps in rejuvenating our energy. The importance of leisure activities are so enormous and contribute to our wellbeing. Without these activities, most people would die of health related diseases like diabetes and obesity. Others would die poor while socially we would be a divided world. With all these examples and affirmation, there can be no work without leisure. Bibliography Cromptom, J. (2001). A giude for undertaking economic impact stu CITATION Jas01 \l 1033 (Cromptom) dies. Journal of travel research, Vol 40 Issue No 1 78-87. Gershuny, J. (2000). Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Harwoth, B. J. (2002). Wellbeing and flow in a sample of male and female office workers. Leisure Studies, 21: 249–63. Haworth, J. T. (1975). 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Organized activities as Developmental context for children and Adolecents. Organized activities as contexts of developemnt:Extracurricular Activities, After-school and Community Programs. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbraum Associates Inc Publishers. O’Neil, O. (2002). A Question of Trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Robbins L, S. A. (2009). Gender comparison of percieved benefits of and barriesr to physical acttivity in middle school youth. Research in Nursing and Helath, 32, 163-176. Roberts, K. (1999). Leisure in Contemporary Society. Wallingford, UK:: CAB International. Veal, A. J. (1987). Leisure and the Future. London: Allen and Unwin. Warr, P. (2002). What is? A Positive Approach to Older Workers. Sheffield:. Sheffield : Sheffield University. Witt P, &. C. (2005). Recreation and Youth Development. New Jersey: PA: Venture Publishing. Read More