A dream – a day with no work, a warm bed, a good book, great music, a full fridge! Time emptied of all unnecessary compulsions, just freedom. A kind of microcosm, a tango with time. In an age of unprecedented technology & work pressures, compulsions are the magnetic centers of our lives. But, leisure is a mental attitude, not simply the result of the external factors. Not an inevitable result of spare time, a holiday, a weekend or a quick break. In losing leisure, we risk losing creative imagination, intuitive perception & positive energy.
Can we build our daily structures or frameworks with leisure at its core, its roots? A day when we wake up with the stubborn sun pouring through our un-curtained windows. A day that we need go nowhere, need to do nothing. When a day is playful, it’s open for the taking! Leisure can be found in both solitude or sociality. Solitude beckons spacious silence. Sociality calls for playing a sport with friends. When we see something that captures our gaze – beauty, oddity, absurdity or mystery, we can simply appreciate, contemplate, wonder & imagine. Leisure implies an attitude of non-activity, an inward calm & balance. So connected with the rhythm of nature.
Stillness clears our usual mental clamouring. An inner peace drapes itself delicately across our mind. Emerson calls a form of greatness, “one who in the midst of a crowd but keeps the perfect sweetness & independence of solitude.”