What does it mean that almost everyone I know, (myself included) has multiple streams of income, and are most times too tired to think, because of how hard we are always working to earn the next dollar or to simply make ends meet?
We live in an era that constantly bombards us with overt and subtle messages that we don’t realize that we are constantly being force-fed messages about the significance of having multiple streams of income that if we do not, we are often left feeling a sense of worthlessness and shame because of our inability to achieve the “living my best life” image that the “Insta” photos constantly promote.
On every single social media platform that I can think of, the testimonials about the luxurious benefits of earning more have inundated our screens and have seeped into our sub-conscious thereby influencing us, in one way or the other. If what the media theorists and Public Relations Specialists say about the psychology of media messages is true, do we really have control about how we are responding? According to the Science of Influence Report (2017)[1], Social media is influential in decision-making across generational categories. So, as much as we think we are in full control, we are often guided….one way or the other.
Before those in the back have my head for this, let me hasten to point out that I am not saying that a person with multiple skills and/or specialized training or even a passion for something should not maximize on opportunities to ensure that they derive the best financial outcomes. Instead, I am suggesting that as important as that is, it is also important to strike a balance and understand the importance of making quality time for leisure. Most of us, regardless of this understanding are still unable to.
It is, therefore, not shocking to that I am admitting that I experienced a strong sense of guilt over the holidays when I spent 10 days just chilling, leisurely. My leisure-chilling involved basking in nothingness and engaging in “Seinfeld moments conversations” with close friends, as well as watching a Series or two or three or ten. Never mind that the nine months prior (since the start of the global pandemonium) I was preoccupied with school (teaching and learning), workplace woes, pandemic panic, mental health mayhem and writing – A LOT. So my 10-day hiatus would have been the needed break.
Yet, we have been so brainwashed to believe that to sit and be still – to find time to listen to the world around us – is unproductive.
How terrible for us!
Well, in one of our dining room impromptu quick-chats, I was recently reminded by my offspring that “leisure time is productivity.” Just like that, she put everything into perspective in four simple words. It was interesting to hear her take on this, and I thought to myself….
She is very correct. Leisure time IS productivity, too.
We are definitely being productive, when we treat ourselves to leisure days. When we do, we are recharging the only us that we have. Without taking part in leisure activities, we would become robotic humans incapable of truly enjoying the very things and people that we work so hard for. Let the church say… Amen! I’m sure that we all agree that life is about more than the multiple jobs that we have. It follows, then, that we all should strive for leisure time – especially those who work more than they rest.
How can we truly achieve anything when we are, without real break, so locked into ourselves – so insular – that we do not even take time to appreciate the very small things in our surroundings: to watch a movie, to listen to our favourite genre of music, to read a book or an article on our favourite topic, to spend time with love, to get to know someone (aahhhmm… well … for those people-persons) or to do just about anything that will bring us the needed break that takes us away from our everyday bustle – to find leisure without work looming over our heads. Leisure is the leave of absence from work that the mind needs to feed the part of us that require rest and recreation.
I can attest to the fact that to do otherwise will result in pretty much the same outcome: we work ourselves to a frazzle that the result is diminishing returns. Lord knows that I, too, have experienced this. I find that when this happens we tend to lose the purpose and passion behind why we were doing the particular thing in the first place. Creating that deliberate leisure, based on my offspring’s declaration, means that we are creating a healthier us – mentally and physically – that lets us be better to ourselves and ultimately to our loved ones. How, then, could anyone not agree with her theory? After all, we are being productive when we care for ourselves, right?
How do we strike the balance and create the leisure time that we need?
I imagine that most of us will find this a very difficult question to answer, especially within the context of trying to attain those individual goals that we have put in place for ourselves, which we cannot achieve without multiple streams of income. From my perspective, there is there is no one answer for this. For me, leisure is not just about sitting and doing nothing. It is also about taking the time to do something that will literally serve to rejuvenate my mind, spirit and body. If I sit still just to worry, then I am not acting in leisure; I am operating in turmoil, and turmoil cannot bring the peace, mental and spiritual rejuvenation that leisure is intended to bring. Admittedly, I striving daily to take worry completely out of the mix.
In saying that, I do believe that we each must find that thing that we constitute to be leisure and then practice it well when we do. I bet after we have deliberately allowed ourselves to accept the importance of leisure time, that we will agree with my offspring that “leisure time is productivity”. As for me, I will no longer adorn myself with the guilt of taking my leisure as seriously as I do my income-generating endeavours.
Having done that for myself, how do I get the offspring to practice what she so beautifully asserts? That is the parenting question of the day.
[1] https://instituteforpr.org/science-influence-social-media-affects-decision-making-healthcare-travel-retail-financial-industries/
PARENTING, ADVOCACY AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN 
Excellent article! These themes you have expressed are now very serious issues in workplaces, societies and homes all over. You via your article have touched a mental chord which I am a believer. Like I normally say, I am responsible for my well-being.
Thank you for taking the time to read AND comment. I do appreciate. But you are so correct, there are so many issues that affect us as human beings that never really get discussed, so I am happy to, at the very least, start a conversation and raise awareness.
Blessings!