leisure concepts

Leisure- an end in itself
The western society has been absorbed in the cycle of capitalism. The highlight of capitalism is profit and profit-making requires work. The more the western society absorbs itself in work, the more it believes, it can profit. This has been the case for years. However, things have started to change gradually as avenues of leisure become more prominent. Why is leisure becoming an increasingly sought after activity today? Because people have grown tired of the work cycle day after day. While monetary gains have not ceased to be the center of attention in Western societies, leisure is increasingly becoming a complementary force of work. So, people have started to draw out from the work cycle to work-leisure cycle.
However, work and leisure are not the only two activities we perform in our day to day lives. There is a third category of necessities that take up a certain amount of time during our day. We eat, sleep, perform house chores, teach our children, buy groceries. These do not form a part of either work or leisure. So, in essence, even though the need for leisure has risen, solely because there has been work, it can not be limited to it. Without work, there would still be leisure. Leisure has been in existence since ancient times even when there was no work. Work does maximize the benefits of leisure but isn't a condition for it. We realize the value of leisure time because work time has become so monotonous to us but leisure at its root is more self-development than free time.
The Oxford dictionary (2018) defines leisure as a "Time when one is not working or occupied; free time.". The word Leisure appears to have originated from the French word leisure, further derived from Latin, licere, which means to ‘be allowed’ (Oxford Dictionary, 2018). So the essential features of Leisure can be derived as- a time of no-work, a time spent at one's discretion, and a tension-free state of mind when essential needs are met. Essentially, all activities that are not work cannot be considered leisure and all activities that are done by choice are not leisure either. For an activity to be considered leisure, it needs to be something a person does by choice, that provides him/her with satisfaction and peace of mind. This can only be possible if a person's essential needs are fulfilled.
Work, on the other hand, has been defined by Robert Dublin (2017) as "continuous employment in the production of goods and services, for remuneration". This definition gives work three important characteristics. First, that it is an on-going process. Second, that it involves the production of goods or services. Third, that work is performed with the central aim of getting paid. Any activity that involves these three elements are considered work. We may consider home chores, or working in the garden or helping out a friend as work. However, according to the above definition, they do not classify as such. That is because, even though we may not be at leisure, there is nothing we expect in return for these activities. We can perform them by choice and they are in most cases beneficial to us without any monetary interest involved.
So work is something we do continuously and it is essentially something we need a break from. That break is what we call leisure. Work-leisure dichotomy balances each other out for what is in one, is not in the other. Work is something you have to do, while leisure is by choice. Work gives you monetary gain while leisure gives you aesthetic gain. Work is when you stress while leisure brings peace of...