Future Leisure and Sustainability of Northern California Ocean and River - Term Paper Example

Introduction Leisure can generally be defined as free time spent away from usual work, domestic or office. Joffre Dumazedier 1960, defines leisure asseveral occupations that an individual can engage in. The individual has complete freedom to choose any activity they wish to engage in. According to the theorist, people engage in leisure for three specific reasons; when one wants to divert from usual activities, widen knowledge about something and mostly for relaxing. Leisure contributes to skill improvement of an individual too. There are two types of leisure though, passive and active. Passive leisure does not involve the use of extreme energy while active leisure needs a person to utilize full mental and physical energy. Examples of passive leisure can be going to the cinema and watching television. Examples of active leisure can be swimming, fishing and dancing (Joffre, 1960). The North California Ocean and rivers provide a good environment for leisure activities such as swimming and fishing. The leisure activities are important for several reasons that will be discussed in the paper for people of north California. Future of leisure in North California From my own experience, there is a surety of leisure engagement to reduce among the people of North California in the future. This is so because life is expensive. The cost of spending on very important things like food, clothes and leisure is very high. Most of the people concentrate on making money to meet there basic needs only. For students who are working and living alone, it is worse. There is no time for leisure because one requires having two jobs to meet there daily needs and wants. As an individual's rate in leisure engagement reduces, the more stressed they become. Leisure gives people a sense of freedom. Neulinger 1974 came up with two psychological functions of leisure. The main one was perceived freedom where he asserts that leisure depends on freedom from any internal or external constraints. The fact that an individual has the capability to choose what he or she is to do, the time and place gives them intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the second psychological concept where there is no payment after one engages in the leisure activity. The moment one engages in an activity and at the end of the day they are being paid for it, then there is extrinsic motivation. At the same time it can lead to intrinsic motivation. The leisure activities are a great motivation for individuals because of self actualization that everyone needs to build there self esteem (Neulinger, 1974). In addition, Mihaly 1996 contributes to the benefits of engaging in leisure by using the theory of flow. The flow theory states that an individual has full involvement in and activity they engage in that is, there is full mental focus to the activity and the individuals feel energized by the focus. The flow contains a lot of variables: setting clear goals, high rates of focus and concentration, loosing self-consciousness, lose sense of time, feedback should be direct and immediate, level and challenge ability should be balanced, feeling of personal control over an activity, intrinsic reward of the activity and complete immersion in the activity. He went on to suggest the activities one can engage in to ensure that there is extrinsic benefit but other theorists have come up with those that lead to intrinsic benefits or motivation. The activities that lead to extrinsic motivation can be music, design, education and different sports. Intrinsic motivation involves the feeling of improvement, spirituality, self help and performance (Mihaly, 1996). The second reason for the diminishing rates of leisure engagement can be due to the pollution of the ocean and rivers especially the Sacramento River. Fishing and swimming are the major recreational activities that the people of North California engage in. this is due to the abundance of the rivers and the ocean. The ocean and the rivers are dirty. For fear of contracting infections due to the dirty water, people rarely engage in water related activities. The Sacramento River serves as the fishing centre of the people but it is highly polluted with extensive mercury levels from the gold mining industry brought about by the gold rush. This scares people to swim in the river because mercury is poisonous to the human body. The fact that these areas are polluted, it reduces the rate of tourism. Tourism, though it is considered as a benefit in financing an area, it is a way of leisure to the tourists. This is asserted by Iso Ahola who wrote about the motivational theory of tourism (Iso Ahola, 1983). According to Iso Ahola, tourism is considered as a leisure activity because it allows an individual to run away from personal and interpersonal activities. At the same time a person runs away to seek personal and interpersonal strength. When one engages in tourism they tend to involve themselves in activities that are not linked to their daily routines. For instance, a tourist will visit North Carolina Rivers and ocean for swimming, playing other water games like surfing, fishing, playing beach volley ball and viewing other creation like types of fish and so on. Sometimes it is healthy to keep away from daily routine and people we live with thus escape from personal and interpersonal engagements. It rebuilds relationships because it gives everyone the time to see how the presence of a person is important. Moreover, it helps people to discover their potential and make new friends. This leads to Iso's conclusion of seeking personal and interpersonal benefits in tourism. Though this theory has not had a lot of proof, it still explains the benefits of leisure engagement (David et al, 2006). The poor conditions of the ocean and the rivers lead to a decline in domestic tourism. Some people around north California can not afford to visit other areas for relaxation in terms of tourism thus rely on these areas for recreation purposes. The polluted and dirty rivers are a huge constraint in their involvement. This has a high negative effect on their personal lives not only on its economic status. The fact that they can not find a place to release their tension at the end of the day, they are prone to work so hard to keep themselves busy thus later causing nervous breakdowns. More so, improvement in performance in some activities will be minimal. The leisure activities help an individual to gain extra knowledge that they can use in their daily activities that they engage in daily. For instance, in playing a game like tennis, one can increase their concentration levels by playing tennis. Tennis needs a lot of concentration for one to become a winner (Kleiven, 2006). North California is a state where individual engage in water games as leisure. The serious and strict regulations imposed by the government concerning the water games will lead to a decline in the participation of leisure activities in the waters. Tourists enjoy deep sea fishing and fish hunting in the rivers but one has to follow the rules that have been dictated concerning fishing. For people who enjoy fishing for the sake of relaxation like me, it is quite disappointing to know that fishing is not free. For example as long as one is not allowed to fish lingcod and rockfish if they are in water that are twenty fathoms and more. This restriction reduces the adventure one will want to engage in by studying the different parts and existence of the unique species that live in the deep sea water. It highly discourages deep sea fishing. For this reason, people will tend to ignore deep sea fishing because they know they are in danger of being charged if they are found fishing in those waters. Thus the leisure activities are bound to reduce if these regulations continue (Kleiven, 2006). There are set hours of fishing in the waters of the North California waters. In San Francisco bay, one can not fish after sunset especially the fin fish can not be taken if the number exceeds thirty seven. For people who want to enjoy fishing in the evening are constrained by these restrictions. People have different times of carrying out their leisure activities. For leisure to be considered there must not be any rules or regulations from outside. One is expected to make their own rules and engagement is not supposed to be controlled. This makes the people to feel very disappointed and not having control of their lives. If the global warming problem will continue and the effects of it on temperatures of the water will lead to the water being too cold, then, it will be hard to see anyone swimming or carrying out any leisure activities around North California waters. This will definitely lead to the reduction in leisure activities in future. Currently, for individuals who enjoy swimming as a way of spending leisure time, are constrained due to the cold waters. It is very hard to swim in the rivers and the ocean because the water is too cold. It also brings about the fear of being prone to diseases that are related to the cold environment like pneumonia. For such fears, the leisure engagement of the people has been regulated highly. This idea causes a lot of frustrations for people who feel like swimming re-energizes them and helps them to feel fresh. For such people swimming in rivers and oceans is the only way they can feel attached to the universe. The benefits can not be explained in word because what an individual derives from such activities is very intrinsic. Recommendations Leisure is very important and it is important for every individual to engage in some form of leisure activity to at least stop being serious for a while. If the government of North California does not realize this, then, its people will have major problems. It is the government's duty to see that prices around that area are regulated. This is to make life a bit affordable for everyone to stop them from engaging in work only and have time for them. Moreover, when prices of services and goods are regulated, then it will ensure that the people of North California can afford some leisure activities (Klenosky, 2002). The advantages of engaging in leisure activities are very evident. In active engagement like swimming, fishing and scuba diving, one has the potential of having a good health status. It reduces the chances of someone being prone to diseases like heart attacks, the problem of obesity and diabetes. Active leisure makes sure that body fat is reduced, circulation of blood in the body is better when one engages in vigorous activities. There is nothing refreshing as taking a walk then getting back to work. One is always ready to meet another challenge that his or her work posses. It gives people the strength to carry on will daily routines. Active leisure can involve playing cards, filling puzzles and playing scrabble. Such activities increase a person's reasoning capacity. For such a reason, they are able to make concrete decisions when it comes to real life situations. Moreover, one is able to gain knowledge about something. For example while playing scrabble a student can learn very many words and their meanings that can be used in his or her class. The activities reduce the strenuous conditions that are caused by daily routine. When one engages in passive leisure, they simply want to relax their minds and their bodies as they do not want to use extreme energy. This highly avoids problems caused by too much exhaustion which is not healthy for the body (Klenosky, 2002). The government has the responsibility of matching how it offers its leisure activities especially to tourists with other countries internationally. The tourist attraction events must meet the global needs and conditions. This has been brought about by globalization. There should be ways in which the government can collect data for the purpose of conducting a thorough research on improving leisure activities to meet the global stipulations. This will make North California competitive globally in sector of tourism. In addition, it will make the people of north California to gain economically. This will make prices of things around the area to be reasonable. The citizens of north California will benefit in engaging in the better provision of leisure activities as well. The government, in setting prices, must ensure that the local citizens pay less than the outsiders for all the tourist activities. This will motivate their engagement in these particular activities (Pennington, 2001). The government should see that the regulations to fishing for pleasure are reduced. They should at least allow once in awhile when they know that people are likely to be free from work to go deep sea fishing. It can even come up with a day eve if it sis once a year to allow individuals to enjoy fishing where they have put restrictions. To add to that, hours of fishing need to be regulated in oceans only. The regulations of fishing in rivers should be lifted to allow people to enjoy fishing any time at any river. Nevertheless, the government can make specific rivers free for people to fish in any time of the day. This will benefit both the people and the government in conserving some of the natural resources it considers important. The issue of global warming is a concern to all. Every one is expected to come in and help in preventing further damage of global warming. It has a lot implication on the leisure activities and it is our doing. Missing some of our enjoyable leisure activities is because we contribute daily to damaging the natural environment. People need to avoid using products that are not environmental friendly. It is the responsibility of the government to sensitize individuals on products that have been made for the benefit of the environment. Moreover, it needs to shut down factories that do not follow ways to avoid damaging of goods in their production. People need to be educate don the effects of global warming and how to avoid it. This will help to see that in the future the temperatures of the waters in North California are not colder. Thus it will see continuity of leisure activity engagement like swimming, surfing and fishing (Shah et al, 2006). The government should make a point of coming up with policies that will lead to cleaning up of the rivers and the ocean because they are too dirty for use. Some of the policies could be to demolish industries and buildings that are near the rivers and the ocean. The oil companies near the ocean are to be restricted in their extraction modes. They are supposed to meet standards that will see that the waters are left clean. For the passersby, they are expected to keep the beach and the waters clean by avoiding throwing of refuse and garbage in to the waters. Strict punishment should be employed to avoid the people from breaking the rules. There must be dustbins everywhere near the oceans or simply notices to remind the people to keep the beach and the waters clean. There is need to educate people on the importance of keeping the environment clean. They need to have the knowledge of the repercussions of pollution to them. They need to know that it is their responsibility and not only have the government to keep the environment cleaned (Kleiven, 2006). There is need for schools and training institutions to allow their students to have time for leisure. They are required to know which students work and at the same time attend school. Such students need to be funded in paying their tuition fee. This will reduce the burden of over working. The government needs to increase the funds that are offered to schools for the sake of helping the needy students. This will help the students not only to have time for leisure but also have better concentration in their studies. Students need to be taught the importance of engaging in leisure activities. The fact that very many people do not know the benefits of leisure activities makes them less interested in their engagement (Kleiven, 2006). There is need to raise awareness of other activities that are related to leisure around the area. The strong belief that the only recreational activities are water related needs to stop. People need to be educated on other diversified activities that can lead to relaxation. People can take road trips around the area for pleasure. The makings of romantic areas that lead to romantic getaways are established. There are private cabins that people can book to live for a while in the woods. It is important for people to avoid concentrating on water based activities (Kleiven, 2006). It is not for the government and the school to create leisure time for an individual but it is the responsibility of the individual to know how he or she can also make time for leisure activities. According to John Kelly 1972, leisure is not supposed to have remunerative benefits. Individuals who put their focus on money and success have the problem of engaging in leisure. It is important for an individual to understand that the body needs to engage in activities that are not strenuous to it once in a while. Leisure must be decided by an individual. It can not be forced to someone. So it is for an individual to decide that they need time for leisure and they will definitely get it. The government and the schools can only create chances for recreation but can not make someone to engage in any activity. It is important to understand that leisure is not static and that it follows a process and an individual only creates his or her own time and place for leisure (John Kelly, 1974). Conclusion There is the probability of losing leisure activities if all individuals are not careful. It is important to understand the benefit of conserving the environment and its benefits to every individual. Moreover, people need to highly consider the benefits of leisure in their own personal lives. Leisure can only be made and created by an individual. Never can it be created by someone else. It is the responsibility of every individual to know which the best activity to engage in for relaxation is. It is also an individual's responsibility to come up with new methods of recreation. References David S. et al., 2006. Modeling Iso Ahola Motivation Theory: Journal of Travel Research. Vol. 45- pp.140-149. Iso Ahola S., 1983. Leisure Studies-Towards a Social Psychology of Recreation Travel. Vol. 2-pp. 45-56. Joffre D., 1960. Current problems of the sociology of leisure-journal of social sciences. Vol. 4-pp. 522-531. John N., 1974. The Psychology of Leisure. John K., 1972. Work and Leisure-a simple paradigm-Journal of Leisure Research. Vol. 4 pp. 50-62. Mihaly C., 1996. Theory of Flow-Leisure activities. Kleiven J., 2006. Replicating and Supplementing the Leisure Scales: Measuring Leisure and Travel Motives. Vol. 2-pp. 109-122. Klenosky D., 2002. Pull of Tourism Destinations: Journal of Travel Research. Vol. 40-pp. 385. Pennington L., 2001. What do women want from Their Travel Experiences-Journal of Travel Research. Vol. 40-pp. 49-56. Shah R. et al., 2006. Use of Structural equation modeling in operations management research-Journal of Operations Management. Vol. 24-pp. 148-169. Read More