Focusing on Leisure
Work-life balance. How often have we heard leaders, counselors, coaches, and speakers advocate for this “easier said than done” concept? During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers found climbing rates of mental health, burn out, and increased anxiety and depression like symptoms. Workers increasingly lobby for telework, remote work, and hybrid work opportunities to increase their quality of life, whatever reason that may be and expect their leadership to adapt to the demand.[1]
Centering our identity on work can become a vice that potentially leads to an unhealthy development of a leisurely lifestyle. Work has an ethical value of its own, and only when we subdue our work can we achieve the leisurely lifestyle.[2] Leisure enables individuals to better themselves, their work, and others for an ultimate purpose.[3] In Joseph Pieper’s essay Leisure: The Basis of Culture, he describes the link between people, work, and how leisure completes the cycle. Pieper was a German 20th century philosopher who was steeped in Thomas Aquinas’s writing and a leading philosopher in the field. I present this essay as a foundation to understanding leisure in expectation we can learn how to modify our lifestyle according to these grounded principles.
“Work is a good thing for man – a good thing for his humanity – because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfilment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes “more a human being.”[4]
“Leisure, it must be clearly understood, is a mental and spiritual attitude – it is not simply the result of external factors, it is not the inevitable result of spare time, a holiday, a weekend, or a vacation. It is, in the first place, an attitude of mind, a condition of the soul, and as such utterly contrary to the ideal of “worker” in each and every one of the three aspects under which it was analyzed: work as activity, as toil, as a social function.”[5]
Historical explanation of leisure:
Leisure in Latin is scola and in Greek skole. The original English word was “school,” and historically, leisure took on a much different meaning.[6] Pieper defines leisure as the preservation of freedom, culture, education, the fullness of humanity, and the integration of the person in the world but made for more than what we can produce in work.
Pieper contends that we struggle to receive gifts, and we believe that we must do something to receive a gift; nothing can be effortless.[7] This causes the modern work culture to misalign the work-life system. The act of receiving, a necessary component of the virtue of humility, contributes to the leisurely life. Society contends that leisure is just a break from work and Pieper describes the an alternative interpretation of leisure along three fronts
- Leisure as silence. A contemplative, receptive attitude mind, which is open to the world around us and “steeped” in it. One of my favorite podcasters describes this as “eyes wide open.” This is best exemplified by little children who are attentive to the things around them – the leaves, bugs in the ground, cool shaped rocks, and the noises that they hear as their minds race to receive the incoming signals.
- Leisure as celebration. Celebrations are naturally effortless, and therefore reflect the innermost meaning of leisure. In celebrations, other than the normal celebration every day, people accept their oneness with the world and of it. Leisure is about entering into the reality that life is bigger than oneself and we can practice that through our work, school, church, family, and any other activity.
- Leisure as a link of social function. Workers should rest from their work not for their work. The utilitarian systems society organized builds the supposition that workers rest from their work, for their work. Although this may be partially true, the true intention of rest, was to rest in life itself, with its divine principles.
Medical institutions, academia, authors, and thought leaders all talk and opine leisure. Our culture seems to state that people must take breaks from work so that they can continue to be functional in the modern-day social and work system. In my view, focus on the nuance of the purpose of leisure likely needs restoration.
Before I transition to practical application, I must address the subject of pride. Pieper argues that the bent toward work, a career, achievement, technological solutions is likely the core reason for the “refusal to accept a gift, no matter where it comes from”.[8] Pride is where one loves oneself and likely consists of self-idolatry. Pride is central to the equation of shorted leisure in life.
“Everyone whose life is completely filled by his work… his life has shrunk inwardly, and contracted, with the result that he can no longer act significantly, outside his work, and perhaps can no longer even conceive of such a thing”[9]
Application:
It is likely that we have all met individuals who define their lives by their work. The principles I describe fit into the military culture at large even though we might acknowledge the fact that military culture varies widely and could be wildly difficult given the various factors – job type, location, rank, family situation, religious beliefs etc. We all may find it difficult to obtain an appropriate amount of rest and, given the earlier definition, may find leisure challenging to acquire. For example, European nations take more time off and work longer weeks than Americans.[10] The question remains, how do we obtain a restful and leisure full life as a modern-day worker?
Pieper argues that the apex component to manifest leisure into life is to ensure that we do not “balance” the work-life metrics but incorporate them into a holistic lifestyle. We are made to work and rest[11]. Work is for man, men are not made for work.[12] When we get this wrong, our approach to work becomes utilitarian – only for the function of the society, not the person. Therefore, Pieper’s proposed solution is an ordered orientation of the mind:
“The soul of leisure, it can be said, lies in “celebration”. Celebration is the point at which the three elements of leisure come to a focus: relaxation, effortlessness, and superiority of the “active leisure” to all functions”[13]
We may ponder what we do with our free time. I once turned off my iPhone’s weekly screen time tabulation notification, mainly because it was an annoying Sunday morning reminder that I spent too much time on my phone throughout the week. But maybe Apple has got it right? We might consider what our default rest looks like. Is it scrolling on social media? Or sitting down with a book, going for a walk, or playing with our children? I shudder as I reflect on the various activities a military service member encounters throughout a career. Overnight training exercises, shift work, deployments, temporary duty away from station; not an exclusive list but a sample of the ways this work impacts service members’ restful lifestyle patterns. Not only is this cycle unlikely to be healthy for myself, but it is also certainly unhealthy for my family, and likely other military families. One can make many changes to our work atmosphere, but nothing enables a contribution to a relaxed and effortless lifestyle without a leisure foundation.
Way Forward:
Leaders can control the sacred time that subordinates and leaders have away from the work atmosphere. Control includes decision making prior to that time in order to create a climate that encourages patience. It remains slightly trickier that leaders, but mostly, subordinates can protect their time by being transparent with their leaders in advance. This energy can lead up the chain of superiors and further insulate peers from the same incursion on their valuable time.
As much as I love taking advantage and maximizing the time of my 45+ minute commute, where I listen to audiobooks, a podcast, or fantastic local talk radio, I should consider the beautiful (can be misleading depending on the roads we take!) morning and evening drives as opportunities for silence. I know I struggle with being too hard on myself and being too serious. An approach, which may seem incoherent for those in the military, may mean to relax and let things come as they may. We rest and vacate our time from work so that we are better leaders for soldiers. Leisure enables healthier family lives, friendships, and time well-spent with loved ones.
We express ourselves everyday through our work, practicing the virtues, respect for authority, teamwork and hence participate in the greater life. We do not need to be cogs in the machine. We can pursue lifestyles that include the principles Pieper presents!
About the Author:
Evan Bruccoleri is an active-duty Army Infantry officer serving as a Joint Chiefs of Staff Intern at the Pentagon.
* The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not represent those of the Army, the Department of Defense, or any part of the U.S. government.
[1] Hannam, Susan and Yordi, Bonni, “Engaging a Multi-Generational Workforce: Practical Advice for Government Managers”, 2011.
[2] Pope John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, September 14, 1981.
[3] David Deavel, https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/12/leisure-basis-labor-getting-work-right-michael-naughton-david-deavel.html, December 25th, 2019.
[4] Pope John Paull II, Work and Personal Dignity, 1.
[5] Josef Pieper “The Art of Leisure”, 1952.
[6] Pieper, 20.
[7] Pieper, 36.
[8] Pieper, 36.
[9] Pieper,58.
[10] https://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/american-and-european-workplace-culture-compared-is-the-grass-really-greener/, September 9th, 2021.
[11] Pope John Paul II, Chapter 6.
[12] Pope John Paul II, Chapter 6
[13] Pieper, 65.