Why do leisure

In other words, this particular bear is starving. The bear continues toward the dog, seemingly sizing up its next meal. But something strange and unexpected happens. The dog, obviously outmatched by a long shot, bows its head and begins wagging its tail. The bear then approaches the dog in a loping manner, and a moment later the two of them are wrestling with each other. After about 15 minutes, the bear departs, seemingly uplifted by the friendly and playful encounter, even if still emaciated and hungry.

The bear could have easily devoured the dog to satisfy its pangs of hunger, yet there was another, more powerful impulse that it acted on, a desire that was greater than its own survival. Play is a common activity among many animals, especially mammals with high cognitive abilities such as canines, felines, dolphins, primates, and, of course, human beings.

Playing is built into our very nature. While this may not be a revelatory finding, and even though most of us would admit there is something inherently good and nourishing about play and recreation, many of our behaviors indicate otherwise. Children today play much less than children did only a few decades ago, mostly because of the heightened importance placed on achievement and the preparation for adulthood.

And for adults, play and recreation has given way increasingly to societal pressures to be ever more productive. Pursue your purpose at PLNU. However, it turns out that play, recreation, and leisure are necessary for a full and flourishing life for a host of reasons. Beyond the physical and mental benefits — and there are many — they can even draw us closer to God.

There are certain social and psychological developmental reasons why play is particularly important for children. However, if we widen our definition of play to include what we would consider recreational or leisurely activity, then we see that human beings continue to play their entire lives. With this in mind, much of the activities we do can be seen as play: from playing an instrument to writing poetry to watching a movie to making jokes to dancing at a party. In fact, the arts themselves — music, film, literature — are a complex and highly developed form of play.

Yes, work is necessary, and in order to put bread on the table and a roof over our heads we admit that we must work. On the other hand, play, recreation, and leisure are seen as ancillary — things we can do without if we had to. However, similar to a lack of play in children, a lack of recreation can have grave consequences for adults. Max Butterfield, Ph. Increased and prolonged cortisol levels can lead to lack of sleep, digestive problems, headaches, lack of energy, and even high blood pressure and heart disease.

Ultimately, a complete absence of play, recreation, and leisure can even be fatal. Aristotle placed great importance on recreation, or as he called it, leisure.

In fact, he believed that we needed to have time for leisure in order to be fully human therefore, those in his society who only worked without time for leisure were to him incapable of being fully alive.

While today we may use the term leisure to mean mindlessly vegging out on the couch or tanning on some breach, leisure, for Aristotle, was specifically the engagement in some activity that allowed for human flourishing — the discussion of philosophical concepts, the listening to music, the reading of poetry. Leisure was not merely the absence of an activity, or even the lack of work, but rather an active posture of receiving and being. The German philosopher, Josef Pieper, Ph. Without leisure and recreation, man is not more than an animal that works, sleeps, and eats.

World View. Why Is Leisure Time Important? More From Reference. How Many Years Are in a Century? What Is Analytical Research? While reduced budgets means decisions are harder, it should not mean that leisure opportunities has to be simply halted as a matter of policy, certainly not in this era of personalisation. Don't miss out on our latest news, resources and events. Join our mailing list. Skip to main navigation. Improving lives through knowledge, evidence and innovation.

Breadcrumb Home News and events Features The importance of leisure. The importance of leisure. By Simon Stevens. Published on 20 Oct