Well, today I have hit the 1 month mark of being unemployed due to a lay off. I almost can’t believe that 30 days have passed already… they have flown. Interestingly enough, I have spent most of my time job hunting. I shifted from working full time to job hunting 8+ hours every day. I guess this should be obvious, but it seems so many people who have been laid off, have used their first few weeks of unemployment to decompress and relax…. (sssshhhh… those people from the unemployment office might read this!). I wish I knew how to unwind!
Unfortunately, I do not really know how to relax… so now I’m starting to blog! This is my first step to “enjoying” the leisure time forced upon me by being unemployed.
On Wikipedia leisure is defined in the following way…
One popular social psychological theory of leisure was put forward by psychology professor John Neulinger in the early 1970s. Neulinger defined leisure using three criteria:
- The experience is a state of mind.
- It must be entered into voluntarily.
- It must be intrinsically motivating of its own merit.
Well, here’s what I can tell you about my current state of “leisure”.
- My state of mind is sort of what I’d call mushy (as in not very stimulated)
- This sort of goes without saying but my current state of leisure was NOT entered into voluntarily
- Motivation is an interesting thing…. some days I’m motivated to take a shower (does that count??)
So, my goal is to seek out “Active Leisure”, which Wikipedia describes as “activities [that] involve the exertion of physical or mental energy”. So far, I haven’t been all that successful but I am trying.. and that counts for something doesn’t it??
I welcome you to join me on this journey. I guess it will be part self-exploration, part relaxation and part personal growth. And, on some days I’m sure it will just simply be to commiserate & share with my fellow “Active Leisurists”
