Historical Development of Leisure - Essay Example

Heading: Reflective Journal Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date Week 1: Introduction to Leisure Week one focused on the introduction to leisure, in which various definitions of leisure were addressed. Besides, three main significant components of leisure were discussed, and they included freedom of choice, enjoyable, and intrinsically motivating. The component of freedom of choice entails the fact we are at liberty to choose the nature or degree of involvement in leisure, unlike in work and other duties. Secondly, the enjoyment component of leisure addresses the fact that whatever kind of leisure people choose contains an element of enjoyment. Thirdly, leisure is intrinsically motivating in that individuals choose leisure activities by basing on their intrinsic benefits. In view of the lecture, the second critical component that caught my attention is the one concerning enjoyment. This is because I have always known that leisure is all about activities that bring pleasure and enjoyment to an individual. Additionally, this is the component that I always consider in making a decision on my kind of leisure activities. According to Torkildsen (2005, pp. 45-60), leisure can be viewed as an involvement in freely chosen behaviors, which are intrinsically inspiring, enjoyable either in expectation, recollection, or participation, and are considered by an individual as leisure. What is more, the three components of leisure enabled me to reflect on my past leisure activities. For instance, I love going swimming, watching movies and visiting friends as way of spending my leisure time. Although these activities might seem as obligations to other people, I derive enjoyment from them. Are there people who consider their work as leisure? Are there people who freely choose their work, enjoy it, and attain intrinsic benefits from it? Week 2: Historical development of leisure This lecture focused on the historical development of leisure. In the Greek society, leisure was only accessed by the elite group, and was seen as time for intellectual discourse and introspection. In the Roman society, leisure was seen as pragmatic, a necessity for a prosperous society. In Ancient China and India, leisure was available to the wealthy people, but it was not based on social class divisions. In Middle Ages, leisure was based on church and religious issues, while in the Industrial Revolution; people had a lot of work, hence insufficient time for leisure. As from 20th century to date, leisure was developed as a result of cars and sporting activates. In post WW2, leisure became more accessible with many technological innovations. In future, there are probable problems faced by people in an attempt to maintain their leisure lifestyle. In relation to these developments, I did not like the Greek, Ancient Indian and Chinese societies for providing leisure to the elite groups only, and find it inhuman. In fact, the Roman perception on leisure is valuable as it is seen as highly indispensable for a prosperous society. In light to this lecture, it is interesting that leisure perception has changed from the past to the present. Following the definition in week one, Goodale and Godbey (1988) defines leisure as free time; free from work and other duties. I find the definition inapplicable to the ancient Indian and Chinese societies, as well as the Greek society because only a section of people accessed leisure time. Besides, presently, leisure is getting hard to maintain since it is getting affordable. Week 3: The Benefits of leisure Here, the lecture emphasized on the benefits of leisure participation by individuals. These benefits were classified into five key sectors. First, there is social health in terms of socialization and interactions. Secondly, leisure brings physical health through participation in active physical activities. Thirdly, leisure leads to spiritual health through enlightenment, peak experience and self-actualization. Fourthly, leisure brings about economic leisure since it is a form of employment in industrialized countries. Lastly, psychological health results from leisure participation, especially in relieving stress, self-actualization, self esteem, and attainment of self-esteem (Shaffer 2010, pp. 479-500). However, of all the aforementioned benefits, I valued the physical, economic and psychological benefits in that people develop strong health and psychology, elements that are indispensable for a successful society. In terms of economic health, it creates job opportunities so members of society. In O’Hara (2006, pp. 235-247), physical health is one of the significant benefits of leisure. This statement demonstrates the misunderstanding that the Ancient Greek, Indians and Chinese societies by limiting leisure to elite groups. It indicates that majority of the people were physically, economically, psychologically, an even spiritual unhealthy (Helgoe 2002, pp. 79-100). This lecture also demonstrates that the old generations and society never fully understood the benefits of leisure. It is only the Roman society that valued leisure for everyone. Besides, I feel that leisure ought to be made accessible to everyone so as to reap these benefits. For instance, visiting friends, playing swimming and hiking are some of my valuable leisure activities. Employers should ensure that employees have leisure time so as to boost their productivity; hence realization of their goals (Haworth 1997, pp. 11-20). Week 4: Stress and Self Esteem This week’s lecture focused on the psychological advantages of leisure, and particularly in terms of stress reduction and self-esteem. In relation to self-esteem, there are four major positions including attainable self, ideal self, ought self, and undesired self. Attainable self entails people’s actual perception of themselves. Ideal self involves the part of self that is unrealistic or unachievable. Besides, ought-self involves people’s feeling of what they should be for other’s sake. Lastly the undesired self means what people are afraid of becoming. Moreover, the lecture also focused on three primary components of self-esteem that include global self-esteem, self-evaluation, and feelings of self-worth. The lecture also addressed stress symptoms and responses to stress. In consideration of the lecture, leisure impacts on one’s self-esteem. Involvement in leisure activities also greatly minimizes stress among individuals (Haworth & Veal, 2004, pp. 71-80). For instance, whenever I am stressed with class work like assignments, or financial issues, I can decide to watch an interesting movie, or go swimming. Normally, these activities relieve me from stress than and boost my self-esteem. This lecture was so revealing that I realized that the slaves in the ancient times had a lot of stress and low self esteem because they could not access leisure activities (Jenkins & Pigram 2003, pp. 31-40). If that is the case, do the people who find their jobs leisurely have stress, or do they at times have low self-esteem? If they do, how do they address these issues? Every society should adapt the Roman society’s view of culture as a necessity to success. Week 5: Leisure Patterns in Contemporary Society: The Leisure Industries This lecture addressed an overview of the historical development of leisure in modern society more than 200 years, what people are presently doing, and how the future will be. This is based on key historical patterns in 1788 – 1851; 1851 – 1901; 1902 – 1945; and 1945 – present. Besides, this lecture focuses on three categories of leisure industries including public sector that is funded by the government; private or commercial; and non-profit or third sector that entails voluntary firms. With respect to the lecture, my attention was mainly caught by what people are presently doing during their leisure time. This is because of the variety of activities that people engage in as compared to the past (McLean 2012, pp.3-10). This has probably brought about by technological developments in the world. For instance, there are televisions, swimming pools, cars, sports and fitness centers at our disposal. Personally, I like watching movies, swimming, aerobics, and walking as a form of leisure. Although governments in developed countries provide numerous recreational facilities for leisure, there are some activities that are only affordable to a section of people, such as, golf sport. Additionally, different genders access certain leisure activities, for instance, few women play golf than men, and that more women go for aerobics than men. It was also interesting to learn that leisure participation is determined by age (Human Kinetics 2010, pp. 4-20). For instance, individuals within the age bracket of 15 and 24 years engage in physical activities as compared to the older people. However, there is another issue that people should choose leisure activities that fit into their schedules and work. References Goodale, T & Godbey, G 1988, The evolution of leisure: historical and philosophical perspectives, Venture Pub, State College, PA. Pp. 4-10. Haworth, J 1997, Work, leisure, and well-being, Routledge, London. Pp. 11-20. Haworth, JT & Veal, AJ 2004, Work and leisure, Routledge, Hove (UK) New York. Pp. 71-80. Helgoe, R 2002, Hierarchy of recovery: from abstinence to self-actualization, Hazelden, Center City, Minn. Pp. 79-100. Human Kinetics, COR, 2010, Dimensions of leisure for life: individuals and society, Human Kinetics, Champaign, Ill. Pp. 4-20 Jenkins, J & Pigram, JJJ 2003, Encyclopedia of leisure and outdoor recreation, Routledge, London New York. Pp. 31-40. McLean, D 2012, Kraus' recreation and leisure in modern society, Jones & Bartlett Learning, Sudbury, MA. Pp. 3-10. O’Hara, K 2006, Consuming music together: social and collaborative aspects of music consumption technologies, Springer, Dordrecht. Pp. 235-247. Shaffer, D 2010, Developmental psychology: childhood and adolescence, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Belmont, CA. Pp. 470-500. Torkildsen, G 2005, Leisure and recreation management, Routledge, London New York. Pp.45-60. Read More