What is Leisure? And Where has it Gone? @ Clock Tower in Westboro.

Please arrive at 6:45pm to order your drinks/food so that we can start the event at 7pm with minimum interruption. Thank you.

I’m really curious about how people are coping today with their endless to-do lists, their workload, their chores, and the rising pressure to constantly “do more.” When I watch the younger generation growing up, I see it is becoming worse than before as achievement becoming the center of life. There’s pressure to excel academically, play a competitive sport, master an instrument, be social, be attractive on social media, be popular… The list goes on and on. I used to think that trying to achieve more is a heritage to us from older generations who survived through war and instability. But even now, in relative peace and prosperity, the world does not seemed to be offering peace. Technology was supposed to free us—machines, robots, the internet and now AI. But instead of creating space, it’s filled every gap. COVID didn’t slow us down—it blurred all boundaries. Now with Zoom, we work across time zones, almost around the clock. So what is happening? The more we achieve, the more our lives seems to be hacked more.

Before you come to this session; can you reflect on what is your week look like?
I divide my life into 5 main categories.
Musts - self care, eating, exercise, health appointments, sleeping.
Work enjoy or not; the things you do to make a living.
Chores_cooking, cleaning, paying the bills, maintain your shelter.
Unaware_scrolling, binge watching numb routines where time flies by.
Leisure social, personal growth, deep personal interests, Socrates cafe for sure This is the time I steal from life.
But is it really. Am I supposed to steal form life or life need to steal from me?
Questions about the daily life of a modern human being…
After Eujin’s two sessions of what is work and what is life, I want to ask, what is leisure? What do you do with your precious time on earth? If possible write down numerically; what does your week look like? What percentage of your life fits within these categories? How much time do you have for leisure? Is it what you want? Are you happy with it? Do you want to change? if yes how?
What is leisure to you? Reading? Watching netflix? Spending time with family? Doing what you want - ( What do you want by the way? ) —or what’s next on the list? Do you have time that’s truly yours—not for output, not for growth, just being?
Is how you spend your free time aligned with who you are? What would it take to reclaim leisure—not as a break from life, but part of life itself?
Has your leisure become something you squeeze in between everything else? Or it is in your daily life? Be honest. Do you multitask? Constantly switch between roles and tabs? Eat while replying to emails? Folding laundry on Zoom calls? Watching a show while binge scrolling? Are you doing it while combining leisure with chores (listening to podcast while loading dishwasher? Watching netflix while working?
It is not new…
And when I dive deep down into this topic; I see that in fact it is not a topic that has been invented recently. It was already here for centuries.
Aristotle sees Leisure (scholē) as the highest human activity—reflection, learning, and virtue beyond utility.
Epicurus says Leisure is the pursuit of peace (ataraxia) through modest pleasures, friendship, and absence of fear or pain.
Thoreau also trying to find leisure by escaping society and finding simplicity alone in the middle of the forest.
Where working is one of the virtues of the modern life; Bernard Shaw says we should not work this much. It is not working; it is slavery and we are supporting only the capitalist movement. But Stoics will not agree with them saying leisure is valid only when used for virtue, study, or reflection. Avoid idleness. Use free time to improve character and serve your role in the world.
Essence of Leisure. What is Leisure?
What makes time “yours”? Do we earn leisure—or is that just a story we’ve been told? If we don't work or do not need to make a living; do we still have a time for leisure or not anymore? Is leisure there because we work? Can it be be exhausting? Is Netflix a leisure? Is rest a leisure? Is doing nothing is leisure or not? Or even is it possible?

Is leisure a right—or a privilege?
About Bernard Russell and how he approaches to leisure as you have the right to do it. Come on man. He is a noble in the end who has the … to do so. But is that right? Does he have the privilege or he demand and creates it. Is leisure the foundation of creativity—or its opposite_like he argued?
The Meaningful Life
What is the part of life that is meaningful? Is it the productive (work) time or the leisure time? Does time have value if it’s not productive? Is how you spend your time who you are or the time you produce is? Is a life with leisure is more meaningful or not? Can we find leisure in work? Do we own our time or we are borrowing it? Can we find leisure in work?
Is structured leisure is still leisure?
In this over performing world; leisure also changed shape. We run and track our daily records and then train for ironman. We start to enjoy being a DJ than we end up in the most up clubs of London. We start a blog than try to get as many followers a we can.

Is boredom is a form of leisure?
Is resting leisure? If rest becomes a task, is it still rest?
Can leisure exist without guilt?