Disagreeing with Socrates

 This week's quotation is by the Greek philosopher, Socrates. He wrote, "Leisure is the finest possession of all."

Admittedly, I don't know the context in which this was written, but as it stands, I couldn't disagree more. There are far more important things than leisure, in my opinion. Such as health, peace, love and friendship - the list goes on.

And I don't believe it is possible to "possess" leisure anyway... My Concise Oxford Dictionary defines leisure as, "(Opportunity to do, for, afforded by) free time, time at one's own disposal." And, we cannot "possess" time either - it passes by at a rate of sixty seconds a minute, sixty minutes an hour, twenty fours hours a day, no matter what we are doing. 

I guess that what he might have been talking about, is that "time at one's own disposal" is a fine possession. Leisure time allows us to engage in activites which feed our hearts and minds, which we would otherwise not have time for. And I certainly value my own leisure time, which is generally spent in a variety of ways: walking in nature, writing, reading, and crocheting. I can attempt to ring fence such time, so that my life is made richer. But I cannot possess it.

These days, it is only too easy to waste our precious leisure time, by scrolling idly on our phones, engaging with social media, or watching trashy television programmes. And I am as guilty of the latter as the next person. My saving grace is that I am usually crocheting at the same time. I do believe that leisure time, well spent, can enrich our lives.

What do you do, to make your leisure time rich and meaningful?

What is Leisure?

 The 20th century German writer, Otto Flake, once wrote, "We should learn again to turn free time into leisure." And the German/English translator on Google wanted to make "Freizeit" (free time) and Musse (leisure) synonyms.

So what is the difference? I would define "free time" as a period in which we can choose what we want to do. But when I think of "leisure", I think of something more purposeful. We may spend our free time, doing nothing in particular - blobbing in front of the telly, mindlessly browsing our phones. Or simply resting. 

I Googled "leisure" and, in the way Google has, it gave me alternative searches to follow, including "leisure as a psychological condition". Which sounded interesting, so I clicked on it. And found this wonderful definition (anonymous), which sharply delineates the difference between free time and leisure: "Leisure defined as a psychological condition means an opportunity for achieving fulfilment in life... Maintains that if work is enjoyable, leisure will become an extension of it."

And I realised that I love (and live by) leisure as "an opportunity for achieving fulfilment in life". Most of my free time is spent either writing or crocheting, which some would call hard work, but which I find fulfiling. I actively dislike sitting around doing nothing. Even when I watch TV, I am crocheting, more often than not. And often have the TV or the radio on in the background while I crochet, to occupy that part of my mind not filled with the work in my hands.

And I see writing as a huge opportunity for achieving fulfilment. When I tell people that I get up at six each morning, so that I have time to write for an hour before I start work, they look at me as though I am mad. But I really enjoy writing, and agree with Liz Gilbert that the definition of the writer as a suffering artist is a toxic one. Writing is fun for me! Yes, it is hard work too, but I absolutely love it.

What do you do for leisure?

Where Does Happiness Lie?

 Aristotle, the 4th century BCE Greek philosopher, once wrote, "Happiness seems to lie in leisure. It belongs to those who are self-sufficient."

The original quote I saw was in the German postcard calendar I buy every year as prompts for these blogposts, and this week, I struggled with the translation. Not for most of it, but for the last three words, "sich selber genügen." This could either mean "self-sufficient" OR "sufficient for themselves", which doesn't mean quite the same.

Because being self-sufficient can mean closing ourselves off from connections with others, whereas "sufficient for themselves" can mean that we find our own company enough. I know this is hair-splitting, but to me, it feels quite different. I enjoy solitude, which is what I mean by being sufficient for myself, but would not like to cut myself off from human connection.

I also struggled with "Happiness seems to lie in leisure", because that ain't necessarily so. I also find happiness in working hard, in being absorbed in writing or crochet or cross-stitch. It is an active engagement, just relaxing.  I guess it hinges on how we define "leisure", which my Concise Oxford Dictionary defines as "time at one's own disposal", which I suppose includes doing something active. Being at leisure is about having no calls on our time, which is delightful, and does bring me happiness, because it means I can do what brings me joy. Which might be hard work, nonetheless.

But I would say that happiness *also* lies in leisure. A few years ago, I blogged about the things that bring me happiness here and I am delighted to report that all those things still bring me happiness; I would only want to add crocheting and playing chess with my son.

Where does happiness lie for you?