Leisure Pattern in Australia - Essay Example

JOURNAL WEEK 1-5 by Student’s name Course code+name Professor’s name University name City, State Date of submission JOURNAL WEEK 1-5 Week 1: introduction to leisure The main aim of the lecture for this week was to create an understanding of what is leisure from social, cultural, political, and economic perspectives. In essence, the lecture focused on explaining what may be termed as leisure from various perspectives. We were asked to consider the following: What is free time? Is leisure always done during one's free time? Do the activities that other people consider an obligation but still enjoy them be considered as leisure? However, leisure has three main aspects that all forms of leisure must incorporate. Leisure must have freedom of choice, enjoyment and be intrinsically motivating. Therefore, before explaining what leisure is, it was critical to explain what free time is. Free time may be defined as the time that is free from work or other obligations (Goodale & Goodbey, 1988). Lack of obligations means that individuals have the freedom to choose what they want. Therefore, taking children to the park may not be defined as leisure since they are parental obligation. Dumazedier (1987) defines leisure as the activities that one turns to apart from work, family, or parental obligations. Therefore, going to the park may be leisure to the children but an obligation to the parents. However, there are some activities that other people may consider an obligation but may be leisure to other people. This is because these people enjoy doing the activities although the activities may be an obligation to other people. It is critical that all forms of leisure have the element of enjoyment. Enjoyment is an individual perception of the things that they do. Thus, watching a movie may be leisure for some people whereas the activity may not be leisure for an individual who has to watch the movie to do a movie review. People do not participate in leisure activities just for the sake of it the leisure activities must be intrinsically motivating. This may make activities that may also be termed as obligations be termed as leisure. Therefore, work may be termed as leisure if an individual's main focus is not on only the financial rewards of the work but the sense of accomplishment that one gets due to the work. Despite these lectures giving various definitions of leisure, what was clear was leisure is personal. People individually determine whether the activities they are undertaking are leisure or not. No one can determine leisure for another individual. Week 2: historical development of leisure This week’s lecture undertook an analysis of the modern-day leisure and how it development through various stages of civilization of humankind. The lecture concentrated on four stages of human development – the hunter-gatherer societies, Greeks, industrial revolution, and the leisure society. The hunter-gatherer societies did all their activities primarily for survival. There was no defined times for work. They could work at any time or rest at any time as long as they had all they had. There were different roles for men, women, and children. Thus in this society there is no evidence of leisure as is defined in contemporary times. The Greeks are among the first groups of people to incorporate leisure in their culture. Leisure developed due to the existence of a small group of people who had a higher social class that other people. This group of people had so much free time since they had slaves who could work for them. The Greeks believed that leisure was vital for the development of their culture and having lives that were virtuous, pleasant, and full of happiness (Goodale & Godbey, 1988 p. 23-24). According to Romans, leisure helped individuals, prepare for the following day. Romans are the first people to create leisure sports. Ancient Chinese and Indian cultures also identified Leisure as the important aspects of ensuring that people lead happy lives. According to the Chinese and Indian cultures, the leisure activities that one had access to, were dependent on the wealth of the individual. The industrial revolution helped define the work times. The definition of work time helped in defining leisure time. Industrial revolution was also characterized by technological advancements that helped define leisure activities. The car helped people move to various destinations to enjoy their leisure activities. In addition, the development of a quarter acre plot created more room for development of leisure facilities such as playgrounds and swimming pools. The leisure societies refer to the period after the World War 2. During this period, technological advancements helped increase leisure time, as work could be done faster and more efficiently using machines. It is during this period that capitalism developed. Capitalisms and development of technology lead to the development of gadgets that invaded people’s free time; these gadgets are used by people in their leisure time. The television, video, computers are some of these gadgets. Since these items are expensive, one has to work harder to afford them. In essence, during this period there has been a commercialization of leisure. Week 3: benefits of leisure This week’s lecture looked at the benefits of engaging in leisure activities. What was evident was that leisure not only benefits the individual who engages in the leisure activity. It benefits the society and the government. Thus in a contemporary society, leisure is extremely valuable. The benefits of leisure can be classified into five categories – physical, psychological, spiritual, social, and economic benefits. All these help in improve the wellness of the individual. Physical benefits refer to the advantages of leisure on physical and emotional health of individuals. Some leisure activities such as exercising help improve the blood flow of the individual and thus improve the individual’s health. Leisure activities also help mental relaxation of the individual. This improves the psychological health of the individual. Leisure activities help in reducing the stress of individuals. Leisure activities help in providing people with a sense of belonging and enlightenment. These are very important in improving the spiritual health of individuals. Most leisure activities are dome in a social context. Therefore, it is prudent to say that leisure helps improve the social health of the community. In undertaking leisure activities, individuals spend enormous sums of money for the efficiency of the activity. These sums of money help in improving the economic health of countries. One of the distinct trends in leisure activities is the commercialization of leisure. It is becoming more and more expensive to engage in leisure activities. Therefore, in the future certain leisure activities will be for a small social class of people. However, what is evident is that people will continue engaging in different leisure activities. Week 4: stress and self-esteem This week’s lecture gave an elaborate discussion of the psychological benefits of leisure. The focus was on two main psychological benefits of leisure – stress reduction and self-esteem. Self-esteem is one of the principal factors that lead to success of individuals. Leisure tremendously helps in improving self-esteem. Self-esteem gradually develops through physical appearance, friendships, or achievement. The perception that people have on an individual greatly determines the individual's self-esteem. In addition, the perception that an individual has on himself determines the self-esteem. People who have high self-esteem believe they have an impact on the world and have a sense of belonging. High self-esteem helps individuals have a low level of stress if they fail at something. One of the main characteristics of stress is unusual levels of anxiety. This may due to an individual facing with challenges that the individual perceives are too high for the individual’s level of skill. We then discussed some of the symptoms of stress and reactions that people may have due to stress. What was evident from the lecture was that stress is a mental condition that can be significantly reduced by engaging in various leisure activities. Stress helps to reduce anxiety and create a sense of fulfillment that helps in tackling the challenges that induce the stress better. Therefore, it critical for individuals to engage is leisure activities for their own well-being. Week 5: leisure pattern in Australia This week’s lecture looked at the changes that have taken place in Australia from the 1700s to the present day. The lecture discussed the current leisure activities that people undertake and how the leisure activities evolved from other leisure activities in the past. The historical periods were divided into four categories – 1788 - 1851, 1851 - 1901, 1901 -1945, and 1945 to present. Veal and Lynch (2001) describe the main leisure activities during 1788 – 1851 as booze, babes, and betting.” This is in reference to alcohol consumption, gambling and sexual immorality. The main characteristics of this period were high levels of prostitution and violence due to the leisure patterns. The major characteristic of the period between 1851 and 1901 is the creation of the eight-hour working day. This established more time for leisure and created a weekend that was solely for leisure activities. During this period, people spent more time in leisure activities. Rapid technological advancements characterized the period between 1901 and 1945. The technological advancements helped in increasing free time that people could spend doing activities that they like. In this period, women started having access to leisure activities as electrical gadgets helped in reducing the time they take doing domestic chores. This increased their free time at their disposal. In addition, people started using technology to for their leisure activities. People would listen to radios during their free time. Technological advanced continued to play a significant role in leisure in the period from 1945 – present. People started living in a quarter acre blocks of land and with better housing and recreation facilities such as swimming pool, backyards where families had barbecues. One of the most significant development in this period is consumption of technology became a method of demonstrating ones social status. Various technological advancements were associated with various leisure activities, with the car being the most prominent. In essence, this was the beginning of rapid commercialization of leisure. Presently people spend most of their leisure time at home. Watching TV is the dominant activity that people do during their leisure time. The leading outdoor leisure activities that people participate in include walking, swimming, cycling, aerobics, and playing tennis. The leisure activities that people engage in vary with age and sex of the individual. What is evident is that in Australia, commercialization of leisure will continue in the near future. Read More