Blog Summary #3

Well, we are finally here to answer the question that has been lingering at the end of the semester since we began this journey of blogging: What have you learned about the significance of leisure education? How has your attitude changed?

One thing that has not changed is my attitude towards blogging. I have not added blogs consistently throughout the semester. At the same time, the quality that is in my blogs has allowed me to provide valuable blog summaries and hopefully this one will be no different, so  here we go...

Leisure education has played a major role in my life in the past few months. I have truly taken a new view on leisure and life in general. The evidence is apparent throughout my blogs.

There are three chapters to my blogs: Chapter 1 includes blog summary #1 and all previous; Chapter 2 includes blog summary #2 and previous (up to blog summary #1); and Chapter 3 includes the last blog entry and this final summary.

The first chapter evolves around questions such as: Why is it that we do not always experience leisure doing the things that we enjoy? This chapter truly shows the introduction stage of leisure education in my life. Mostly negative attitudes towards leisure are portrayed due to the frustration of not understanding leisure in my life. Although I understood that I wear many hats (DJ, parade marshall, coach, technical director, student, etc.), what leisure was and how we can educate others about leisure was not so clear to me.

The understanding of leisure became clearer at the end of this chapter with the use of words such as state of mind, intrinsic motivation, and perceived freedom as evidence. How to educate myself wasn't clear even though I didn't understand at that point that I was actually educating myself about my leisure through these blogs and observations I was making in my life. How to educate others was still a mystery.

In chapter 2 we can see a transition from little to moderate understanding of leisure and leisure education. I showed an understanding as to why blogging was not leisure to me, but explained how I understood how it could be helpful in providing us with observations that we have made over time; putting understanding on paper. Much of the discussion was about positive, intrinsically motivating experiences. This was not only on how to have them myself, but on how to provide these types of experiences to others through coaching football. Optimal arousal, flow, motivation... all discussed in relation to how I had educated myself and how I educated others through football and specific instances (woman at the dance). The pivotal question asked in chapter 2 was: is there life without leisure? This question shows a change in attitude from chapter 1; an attitude that is much more positive and much more insightful.

In chapter 3, we see first-hand how I view leisure education as significant. It changed my life. Leisure education can create opportunities, build options, empower individuals, and develop relevant skills according to Dattilo (2008, p.47). The decision making process and experience that I was involved in for my "new leisure experience" is a perfect example as to how this is true.

Weight training is something that I have said I NEVER would do... I did it. What is important is I didn't do it for the grades, I did it for myself. I was taking away an opportunity from myself, or an opportunity to choose to take part in this activity until I took the word NEVER out of my vocabulary for it. This truly took a change in my leisure attitude that can truly only be changed through becoming leisurely educated.

I always believed that weight training was only done for the look, or the "extrinsic factors" that were associated with this activity. I let this get the best of me in not wanting to try the activity because I did not perceive it as being intrinsically motivating, and I perceived it as doing it due to external pressures. I did not feel free to make the choice to weight train until I realized that I was the constraint, not these perceived extrinsic motivators.

This lead me to realize that one could change their leisure patterns. I even make reference to the fact that if something were to happen in my schedule I would make changes so that I could continue to enjoy this leisure activity that has become part of my repertoire. Increasing my leisure repertoire by "making time" for my leisure will be a useful tool to find satisfaction in my life.

It is all these skills put together that have allowed me to find balance in my life... a balance of what some call leisure and work. These skills have been useful to me to educate others (chapter 2) and to educate myself about leisure and life (chapter 3). Making decisions in my life according to my leisure are much easier due to the skills I have acquired throughout the semester and these same skills will allow me to help others in the future.

So I have learned that leisure education can help you change your own life and the lives of others. It can help you change your attitude from negative to positive as it did to mine over the course of the semester. The vocabulary that we have learned and the theory that we have cemented in our brains can be used in every course of life that we encounter, no matter the age, no matter the situation. How to enjoy and help others enjoy positive, intrinsically motivating experiences is what life is all about. To answer my own question, "Is there life without leisure?", it is now very simple to answer: Without leisure there is no life, without life there is no leisure, in order to optimize your leisure one must be leisure educated--> to be leisure educated is to be life educated... what can be more significant than that??

This concludes chapter 3.

New Leisure Experience

The new leisure experience that I partook in was weight training.

Deciding...

It took me a while to decide upon an activity to take part in, but eventual I found one that would be most useful to me. I have not been physically active in a very long time. I used to play football, hockey, and baseball, and when I gave all of them up I started to play ball hockey, which I have also stopped playing. I do nothing and I felt it at my cousin's wedding.

I has a great time at my cousin's wedding. Filled with family, friends, fun... and a lot of dancing... so much that the next couple of days that I felt it throughout my body. How badly can someone be out of shape to be sore after dancing at a party?!?

That's when I decided to start weight training.

History...

I have always said that I would never weight train; that it was superficial and something that I did not have any interest in. This was all true. In fact I did not truly NEED to do this type of exercise because of all the other activities I was involved in. However, lately I have been stressing the need to be physically active to others and the wedding was a cry for help.

Enabling Factors...

I don't like the idea of paying to go to a gym when I have a bench and weights in order to get in a solid workout. Instead of doing it alone I decided to workout with my buddy who does so already as well. It's cheap ($0), not far, physical, friendly, enjoyable, and even leads to other leisure opportunities: having beer and watching the hockey game, playing video games, going out to eat. The options are unlimited which makes it even more exciting to get involved in.

Actual Experience...

I enjoyed the friendship and physical aspects of this new experience more than anything. I get to spend time with a close friend, talk about different issues that matter or don't matter, and get the physical exercise I was looking for.

Future...

I have continued to weight train for the past 3 weeks now. I plan on continuing to do so as my busy schedule permits. I would change my workout schedule to fit into my schedule if anything were to change, but as of right now everything is working out and I am feeling a lot healthier. After the next wedding I should be OK.

Blog Summary #2

BECOMING LEISURE EDUCATED AND A LEISURE EDUCATOR

In my first blog we can see evidence of becoming leisure educated by understanding the constraint of time as a barrier towards blogging. This is seemingly blocking my leisure experience because it provides more extrinsic rather than intrinsic motivation and a lack of perceived freedom from my perspective of my leisure (or non-leisure) experience. Although I do understand why and how blogging can be a positive by the use of self-reflection.

Also, in my first blog there is evidence of becoming leisure educated through the understanding that leisure is individually based. I described how my experience with blogging is one that I don't consider very leisure-like, however understand that others may see it as so. 

In my second blog there is evidence of becoming leisure educated and a leisure educator. It is apparent that learning about others and learning from others when it comes to coaching has allowed myself to understand why I sometimes experience and don't experience leisure all the time. It also implies learning why the constituents of our football program may not be experiencing positive, intrinsically motivating leisure within this program. As technical director it is even my "job" to make sure that these volunteers are providing the necessary environment and situations for these leisure experiences to occur.

LEISURE VALUES BASED ON LANGUAGE

If there is one theme of my two blog entries it is the use of the words "positive, intrinsically motivated experiences". This demonstrates my positive view of leisure. In fact, it is the goal I apparently am looking to achieve and am looking to provide for others. Apparently it is the foundation for leisure from my perspective.

I go on to use the words flow and optimal arousal as examples of these experiences that I am looking to provide and achieve. If we don't have these feelings I find it very difficult to experience or provide the same experiences I wish to have. For example I have used words such as stimulation, provide, improve to achieve these experiences as well. Even a word such as delayed gratification has come about in explaining the fact that leisure isn't going to occur all the time or over a given amount of time (through the example of the woman at the dance (Blog #1). 

One key sentence that I feel is the most important in how I value leisure is the following: minds and heart of people... is key.

This zooms directly on the Head, Heart, and Hands concept as discussed in class. I am very much a Hands and Heart type of person that believes through emotions and the potential of providing positive experiences within a given activity outplays the so-called logic that may surround certain ideas and potential programs to be provided. I believe the potential of providing and enjoying positive, intrinsically motivating experiences and the potential of creating long-lasting, positive relationship can always outweigh the logical perspective. This is comprehensible to me since we all leisure differently, doing different things, and experiencing these different things (activities) differently. In the end we don't really look at the logic of it all, we look at how we felt, and how we did it in order for us to feel it and do it again.

Enjoying My Leisure

Is there life without what we call leisure? I don't think so.

Without leisure how do we enjoy ourselves? The concepts of flow and optimal arousal have been demonstrated as being key to enjoying positive experiences. This has become a part of me through my involvement within the Verdun Minor Football Association. 

I had the opportunity to play 7 seasons as a young buck in Verdun. They were some of  the best times of my life. This recreational activity provided me with so many feelings of motivation, fun, excitement, and even disappointment which have allowed me to learn to be a coach and technical director of this program.

Providing this program and coaching the youngsters of this borough has become a part of me. My self-definition prides upon it. While walking through the streets of Verdun, it's almost impossible to get away from someone calling me coach on my way and asking how things are going with football. Besides my school life, it is probably the most important part of my life.

Tonight I have a meeting with one of our teams to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the coaching staff and ways that we can improve our program. Getting into the minds and hearts of these people is key in providing a worthwhile program for these young kids. If our program providers and coaches cannot provide positive, leisure experiences for these young players, our program would not exist. It has become a goal and motivation in my life to help and help others provide these positive experiences through the sport of football.

The friendships I have built by being a part of this adventure are very important to me. I don't know how I would live without them and their hard work throughout the season and off-season. Volunteerism is something that is underrated and under-appreciated. However, it is the volunteers that will provide the positive experiences for these kids. It is the volunteers that will give up their time doing other things to make sure that this is the case.

Tonight is a night of leisure education at this meeting. Learning from each other on how to provide an enjoyable, worthwhile environment and experience is leisure education. Discussing the whys and the why nots of what we do or should improve upon will only make us stronger in providing leisure experiences. It will also help these coaches who are volunteering to have fun as well.

Winning isn't everything unless winning means we provide these kids with coaches that are football educated, relationship-oriented, and leisure educated because without these three things what's the point?

It is not always easy because we are dealing with ever-changing youth during an entire season. As they change we have to change as program providers. We must adapt to situations and personalities. We must realize that if they aren't enjoying themselves then how can we. Leisure education plays a big role in my life. This will most likely stay constant and be significant part of it.

As I continue to educate myself about leisure and as I move forward in being an effective leisure educator, I will be able to look back and see where I learned the most through my own experiences and it will probably be through the experiences now... until things change.

Blogging...It's Been A While

Realizing that I have a blog summary due tomorrow, I figured I should discuss my lack of interest in blogging.

It's not that I dislike writing about my life experiences; it's not that I dislike discussing how I feel I can help leisurely educate others; it's not that I don't understand leisure or leisure education.

This blogging business has felt extrinsically motivating rather than intrinsically motivating. I feel as though I learn more by discussing issues and leisure with other people rather than putting it down in writing. In fact, without people there is no such thing as leisure.

Leisure is truly individual-based. Therefore in order to be leisure educated or to leisurely educate others, it is very important to deal with individuals and communicate with them ways in which they can have positive, intrinsically motivating experiences and discuss with others how you (I) can personally find ways to have positive, intrinsically motivated experiences as well. Of course self-reflecting on your leisure/leisure educational life can be productive in a sense that you can follow your thought process over time and why you may or may not be experiencing leisure, however there is the constraint of time that is placed on us students that is making it feel a lot less like leisure and a lot more like work.

This makes sense due to the fact that it is part of a University course. There needs to be some way to evaluate one's thought process when it comes to leisure and leisure education when the course is entitled "Leisure Education". It serves me better as an individual to find my leisure in my relationships that lead to positive experiences with them and to improve on these relationships to stimulate positive experiences. This is how I have learned about my leisure and how I have learned to educate others in leisure.

Just this past weekend I had a volunteer come up to me and tell me: "This is my party. Who are you to say that it is last call. This is my party and we'll do things the way I want to do them!"

It was a fundrasing dance for the Verdun Minor Football Association. I turned around and said: "This isn't your party, this is our party. Without all of these people here this would not be much of a party anyways. In fact, this dance isn't as much about us having a good time as it is raising money to provide a worthwhile program to our youth. If you haven't had a good time yet I am sorry, but I am sure you will have a good time again in your life and I am sure the funds that we raise from this dance will be useful in making sure that the young kids have a good time next year as well."

Just like that, I felt like a leisure educator. The goal of providing a worthwhile program to our youth ended up being more important than one person having a good time at one given time. This person apologized to me and said she was happy I told her that. She said she would have a good time again in her life; that she was being selfish.

Delayed gratification for one night wasn't the end of the world... I hope my gratification when it comes to blogging doesn't stay delayed for much longer.

Blog Summary #1

What is leisure to me?

Leisure is not an activity, it is truly a state of mind experience. The activity in which you may usually experience leisure while participating does not always produce the same intensity or sense of optimal arousal. For example, I have been blogging about my time as a volunteer coach where I usually enjoy leisure experiences. However, in the recent past I have not exactly enjoyed leisure experiences while coaching football. This proves that an activity does not always produce leisure.

Leisure also involves a sense of intrinsic motivation. As discussed in one of my blogs, I mentioned how I have to find ways to intrinsically motivate myself to coach football. At times it is difficult to motivate yourself when frustration, carelessness of others, or other instances come to surface. If you are not motivated to do it for yourself, then how can you possibly be completely absorbed by your surroundings? Extrinsic motivation can initiate you to become involved in an activity or to continue to be involved (as mentioned in one of my blogs (Terry Evanshen)), but it is truly your intrinsic motivation that is needed to experience leisure.

Perceived freedom also plays a major role in order to experience leisure. In my last blog entry I mentioned how I felt free at the UIS 80th Anniversary Gala even though I was actually working as a DJ. I had to be there in order to uphold my business agreement, but at the same time I felt free. This is a perfect example of not necessarily truly being free, but having the perception that one is free; this also enables the potential for a leisure experience.

In order to become leisure educated one must understand what leisure is to them personally. The understanding that an activity does not necessarily reflect a leisure experience is very important in truly understanding the concept that is leisure. In studying my own leisure patterns and how I feel during my regular leisure activities, I have found that leisure is not experienced every time, but when it is experienced that I value it and enjoy it as much as anything.

I now have a better understanding of what leisure is to me and what it means in general. I am looking forward to the continuation of this blog to discover more about my leisure and leisure in general. By becoming increasingly educated in the realm of leisure, eventually I will be able to use what I have learned about myself and what I have learned through my experiences to potentially help educate others with their leisure lives. Potentially...

Night of Leisure = It's about time!!!

It's been a tough week. A lot of things not going my way, many changes in my life going on, and none of them seemingly positive as of yet. Both my football teams lost this weekend to top it off. Friday afternoon my Loyola High School team lost 44-0 (quite embarrassing); Saturday afternoon my Verdun Ti-Cats Team lost 30-15, in which one of our players was severely injured; and this was all after a week of frustration at practice and in life in general. Finally, some relief on Saturday night. 

I had the privilege of playing music alongside the Montreal Police Band at the United Irish Societies' (UIS) 80TH Anniversary Gala. The food was great, the live music was enjoyable, and everyone just showed up to have a great time. It was nice to see and a pleasure to be a part of.

The UIS is responsible for organizing and putting on the Montreal St. Patrick's Day parade every year. I have been a member of this society for many years now and it has been a worthwhile experience, especially as a parade marshall. Our job is to make sure the floats are in order, that they follow parade regulations, and, most importantly, to make sure the parade gets down St. Catherine Street safely. 

The UIS puts on many events throughout the year, mostly during the "Irish" season. This past event was a success in that it allowed many people to get together to enjoy the memories that 80 years can bring. It was also successful in allowing me to enjoy music, an enjoyable meal, joyous, happy people, and a wonderful experience that I have not had in quite a while. No worries, no stress... just fun. It felt nice to be free...

For more information about the UIS please visit:http://www.montrealirishparade.com.