The Simplest Way to Make Your Life More Meaningful and Enjoyable
It's a busy world we live in.
Our days are occupied with obligations, work, to-do lists, household chores, and many more things that seem to be stealing our life away.
It’s no wonder then that we crave those precious free moments - what we often refer to as leisure.
But how we spend these moments, our understanding of leisure, could be the key to having a more fulfilled and meaningful life.
We often view leisure solely as moments of doing nothing or engaging in passive activities such as watching TV. But Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, psychologist renowned for his groundbreaking work on the concept of "flow," encourages us to reconsider this understanding and explore the transformative potential of active leisure—a meaningful and fulfilling way to spend our free hours that enhances our life quality significantly.
In his illuminating book, "Finding Flow," Csikszentmihalyi shines a light on the beauty of active leisure. This form of leisure is more than mere relaxation; it's about immersing ourselves in activities we love, be it playing an instrument, learning a new language, or doing garden work. Research has shown that these moments of engagement and focus are when we experience the most happiness and motivation and when we often find ourselves in a state of flow.
Interestingly, Csikszentmihalyi notes that active leisure usually occupies a mere quarter to a fifth of our free time, often overshadowed by passive leisure activities. It is easy to conclude then that, by consciously reorienting our daily lives to promote more active leisure, we can increase our quality of life exponentially.
While reading numerous examples that illustrate how strong of an impact active leisure can have on one’s life, one story stood out in particular.
Consider the story of a woman diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia. After being hospitalized for over ten years, she participated in a two-week study and reported a positive mood twice, both times while taking care of her fingernails. It was suggested that she adopt this as a hobby, and a professional manicurist was hired to teach her the skills of her trade. The woman soon discovered joy and purpose in the simple act of manicuring her nails. Although a seemingly mundane activity, it was an activity that required engagement, focus, and skill—all the components of active leisure. Eventually, her disposition changed so drastically that she was able to reintegrate back into society as a self-sufficient individual.
However, as encouraging as all of this sounds, we must be aware that harnessing the transformative potential of active leisure isn't an automatic process. It requires the same level of creativity, effort, and attention we usually reserve only for our work. You cannot expect to significantly increase the quality of your life without making a conscious and structured effort to do so.
On the other hand, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the promise of active leisure is reserved for the artists and inventors of the world, for the extraordinary few; we all can add vibrancy to our lives and contribute to the world by creatively using our free time.
The world is full of beautiful examples of people who engage in activities that maybe no one else cares about out of love and passion, adding significant value to their lives and the world.
“How can we contribute to the world by engaging in active leisure?” you might ask.
The answer is simple. The world will be a better place with one more person doing something that makes them more satisfied with themselves and their life.
Therefore, let us reclaim our leisure time, let us make it active and engaging. Let us turn it into a playground of our soul. As we embrace active leisure, every moment can potentially sow the seeds for a fulfilling and meaningful life.
It might just be a hobby, just a random thing you enjoy engaging in. But in the grand scheme of things, it's these activities, these moments of active leisure, that make our life worth living.
Thank you for reading.
P.S.
The importance of active leisure for self-actualization is one of the topics I covered in my free course, (Re)Build.
If you haven’t joined the (Re)Build course, bad news: it’s already started and the enrollment is closed.
But there is also some good news for you.
All the value from the (Re)Build, and MUCH more, will be available inside the Sisyphus Society once it opens for new members on Monday, June 26th.
And you have a chance to win a free membership.
All you need to do is enter the sweepstakes here.
Good luck.
Free Resources:
My free ebook: The Lost Art of Reading
Paid Resources:
The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Mastering Consistency
The Gold Pill: Timeless Ideas for a Life Worth Living
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