The Uses of Leisure

The Uses of Leisure :




It is a common experience that if we work very hard and continuously at a thing we feel tired. Our minds begin to wander and we feel unable to fix our attention on the work. Psychologists say that fatigue is due to some of the brain matter being wasted while at hard work and, that, in order to allow the matter to be replaced, rest is necessary. It is only after rest that we feel as fresh as before. We thus see that leisure is quite essential for our system after hard work of any kind. This does not mean that we should absolutely cease to do any work even if this be possible, because work is as necessary as rest. Rest can often be had also as change in occupations.


Perhaps we have a hobby and we may be interested in stamp collecting. We may, then after a hard day’s work, collect stamps, affixes them neatly in sheets with decorated borders. This is not only a leasing occupations but also useful.


Suppose we have been working hard at mathematics from 10 O’clock in the morning till 4 O’clock in the evening, then we long for rest. We need not sit idle. We can sing a few of our favorite songs and enjoy the tunes.


It is possible for us to attend to our gardens during our leaser hours. We may trim a plant or prune a creep or dig the ground. We may watch the glory of the buds blossoming into flowers and watering the flower plants is not only pleasant diversion but also a very useful form of physical exercise. We can also watch the birds around.


If we are in the country, we may shut our books, take a walk into the open and mingle freely with farmers and other rural folk. We may study their outlook and ideas, their needs and aspirations. We may probably tell them a thing or two from our knowledge of modern times and of the modern world which they might not have known. We may try to teach the elements of hygiene and first-aid or if they have their own methods. We can also collect the tales most popular among them and thus specialized in the in folk-lore. It is a fascinating study which will reflect the various phase of the life of those spending most of their time in their native surroundings.


Others so inclined may try their hand at drawing or painting. Painting flower or creepers or birds in their natural setting is something of an achievement and may give us very great pleasure indeed. Those who have leisure may collect beautiful pictures and make them into neat albums.


Perhaps the most useful way of spending one’s leisure is to do some kind of social service especially to the backward sects of society. We may informally hold classes for illiterate adults, narrate interesting stories, teach them to read and write, tell them how to safeguard themselves against infectious deceases, teach them the benefit of thrift by encouraging them to deposit their meager savings in a savings bank or invest them in nations savings certificates and do a hundred other similar things besides. We may teach me the rudiments of civics, educate them about their rights as voters in our newly-won democracy and as to their duties in safeguarding it. We may exhort them to give their wholehearted cooperation in the community projects and other developments.