Blog Summary #3

Wait a minute. It's the end? Three months have come and gone already? I feel as though I barely had time to breathe, let alone take a minute to enjoy myself. However, thanks to this blog I can look back at all of the things that I have actually done over the past few months. And to be honest, I have done quite a lot! More than it feels like anyway. I wonder how much this blog has influenced how much leisure I do. Maybe because I feel like my leisure is being observed and tracked I have been more motivated to do things and to consider certain activities as leisure that I normally might not. This semester, between work, classes and thousands of stressors, I found time to participate in paintball, numerous weekend trips to Ottawa, I went apple picking, to a ceramics cafe, had a board game night (and other fun times with friends), went to a wedding and attended a film festival. Wow, not to brag or anything, but I am super impressed with myself. I wonder why, then, do I still feel like I NEVER leisure?! I enjoy the activities, they are relaxing and recreative. Perhaps I am just in school mode, and while I am in school mode everything seems slightly more negative and slightly less fun. Just a theory.

Participating in this class, like most other leisure classes, has forced and motivated me to really examine how I spend my time and put lots of effort into choosing activities wisely. And just really making sure to find (or make) the time to leisure. I am constantly being reminded of the importance of this.

I feel that I am now more prepared to approach leisure and leisure situations from a more academic, productive, and educational angle. I feel that I can leisure educate myself and others through various activities and situations. From now on I will be putting more thought into the appreciation and benefits of a leisure activity, and will be able to choose and suggest activities that might be more appropriate for a certain group of people.

To answer the question of what I plan on doing between now and when classes start: lots, and classes don't really start for me.. ever again. This semester was my last semester of classes at Concordia. I am completing my internship next semester, and then finding a job. So between now and January 19th (the first day at my internship) I plan on finishing my essays and exams, sleeping, and then running around like a crazy person for 3 weeks (Montreal-Toronto-Ottawa-Toronto-Louiseville Quebec-Toronto-Montreal.... YEAH). My partner and I are sharing Christmas between both of our families (a first for me), and that involves a lot of travelling. Thank goodness she has a car.. and a license (unlike myself). Speaking of which, I will also be taking my driving test to get my license, finally! I will be visiting friends and family and sharing some good times. I will also no doubt be preparing for the start of my internship (which will clearly involve shopping for a whole new work appropriate wardrobe, obviously). I can't wait.

This semester has been a challenge and a pleasure. Challenge is good and I feel that I have learned more this semester than any other. Honestly.

I STILL didn't go to a concert though! Not one all semester. This makes me cry a little bit.

Can't deny it anymore

It's December now, Christmas is soon. I have been avoiding Christmas shopping and covering my ears from Christmas songs for a couple of weeks now, but it's no use anymore. In fact, I even went shopping for a Christmas tree with my partner and her sister this weekend (which goes against all of my values), and this weekend I am probably going to be starting Christmas gift shopping. Oh let the fun begin.
It's not that I don't like Christmas. I do actually. I just feel like there is no need to make it such a huge, long, drawn out affair. Christmas is one day. Christmas celebrations can last a week, I think that's ok. There are lots of people to see and traditions to uphold around this holiday, so a week is fine. But seriously, a month? That's just ridiculous. I feel like people use it so much as something to look forward to and to bring them happiness. Like, for the entire month and a half leading up to Christmas, people have something to think about, something to do, something to plan, something to be excited for. Why can't we be happy and excited about other things? Why do we need a huge commerical holiday to get together with our families and be happy? Makes me kind of sad. I don't really like to look that far in advance, so I am not yet excited or thinking very much about Christmas, instead I am thrilled for this Saturday night because I have my last exam on Saturday afternoon and I can't wait to celebrate and relax for the first time in a while.

Four movies... and an interview

This week I've been going to see as many movies in the Image+nation film festival that is going on right now. I have never participated in this festival before, despite living in Montreal for almost 5 years now. I have been SO impressed by the quality of the films and by how many fascinating people I have encountered there. This is definitely something that is opening up new doors for me in terms of other leisure activities because different organizations and social clubs are advertising themselves through this festival too. I'm disappointed that it has taken me so many years to actually go and see what this is about!
I also had an interview for my internship yesterday. It was one of the weirdest interviews I've ever had, because they didn't really interview me at all, they just met me and asked me what I would want to do there, and when I could start. They didn't even ask for my resume! I spent so long preparing and stressing about that interview! I feel almost disappointed that I didn't get to do all of the things (answer the questions, talk about stuff) that I had prepared for. But, mostly I feel thrilled that (as long as Steve approves of the internship) I've finally got this figured out and ready to go. The new year should be good! Now to finish exams first...

Staying afloat..

This weekend I took some time on Sunday to go to a ceramic cafe. I have been a few times before and I love it. I went with my girlfriend and some of her friends. I find it so relaxing. I rarely get to be creative and artistic like that these days and I miss it. So, it was a great experience that I loved sharing with the people I was with. I also went to visit some of my friends, and even though we didn't really do anything in particular (except spoil my friends dog who was lost for a few days last week), it was nice to see each other. I am sad though, because I think Sunday may have been the last chance for me to enjoy a bit of freedom and fun for the next few weeks. Exams and papers and presentations, oh my!

I can see the light!

The semester is drawing to close, and I am so excited. This isn't just the end of a semester for me, it is the end of my final semester here at Concordia. Well, technically I still have a semester left, but I am only doing my internship, no classes. It feels weird, but I am looking forward to moving on (it has been almost five years after all). This does mean that my leisure time right now is spent doing very very passive activities. Usually I find more passive activities to be rather boring and I can only enjoy them for a small period of time. However, in the past couple of weeks I have relished every opportunity that I've had to watch movies, cook and eat dinner with my partner, and even just stare at the wall and not have to think about school work. The most active leisure I have participated in lately has been taking walks. Just to get out of the house, away from the computer, away from the books.. I have been going out for walks. And I love it. I am however definitely looking forward to getting back to normal. I am spending a lot of time lately thinking about all the leisure I can do when I have more time and energy. I am excited about taking a photography class next semester and volunteering a bit. I have definitely started thinking about my options more lately, and planning in advance. I've learned that if I don't plan it in advance and prepare myself for something, it most likely won't happen.

Anyway, thats about all I can manage to squeeze out of my exhausted brain right now. Hopefully more will come later.

Blog Summary #2

Well, another month has gone by and it is time once again to summarize my blog.

In order to be leisure educated one must advance through seven different steps, according to Dattilo. At this point I think that I have only really acquired six of these characteristics.

First, I definitely can and know how to appreciate leisure. This is evident all through my blog. I understand what leisure is, what constitutes leisure, and how beneficial it can be to all individuals. Leisure is recreative and gives an individual a change of sorts from normal day-to-day activities. I am also very aware of myself in leisure, the second of Dattilo's characteristics. I know what I enjoy (concerts, board games, dinners with friends) and what my skills are, I know what leisure experiences leave me the most satisfied (often the ones that have also surprised me the most and were unexpected), and thanks especially to this blog I am quite consciously always reflecting on my past leisure participation. I have also become self determined in leisure. I demonstrated this when I took responsibility for my boring leisure life and make the choice to seek out activities that I know I love (concerts) and pursued them in order to make my leisure more fulfilling. Although not fully demonstrated through my blog, I have recently become quite assertive and stubborn about making sure I spend more time with my friends. It is something we always say we should do more, and it's usually all talk, but I am making sure it happens this time. Furthermore, I feel that I do interact socially during leisure. Nearly all of my leisure is social. Although I love spending time alone, I usually find it relaxing or productive. But most of my memorable and enjoyable leisure has been spent in social situations, whether with friends or near strangers. Finally, I feel that I have acquired the characteristic of making decisions about leisure because this one brings together all of the other elements like the ability to identify goals which I have done and displayed numerous times through this blog.

On the other hand, I don't think I am quite so good at the characteristic of using resources facilitating leisure. I'll have to work on this part, with the planning and matching and problem solving. Not my forte.

I definitely think that the language I've used through my blog demonstrates my values or attitudes towards leisure. I use really extreme language like "mayhem" and "so much fun" and "really very excited" to describe different situations and how I felt about them. Descriptions like that make my values and attitudes quite easily interpreted.

Finally, I don't think that I have really become any kind of leisure educator at this point. I am still working on assessing and fully figuring out my life (leisure and other), so I don't really feel ready to start educating others. I have been talking more about leisure and it's importance with my friends and partner and family. And so they are all getting exposure and information that they probably never thought about before, but I wouldn't consider that quite leisure educating because it is not through leisure and we don't do anything more than share information. But it's a step I guess!

Cancelled!

So I finally got off my butt and decided to find a concert to go to, get a group of friends together, get the tickets and make the plans to go. As I've said before.. (I think).. I love concerts and in the past few months (even through Pop Montreal) I haven't been to any! This has been making me sad, so I decided to change that. And then...

It was cancelled! It was supposed to be this Saturday.. and now.. it is not.

So sad. Time to start searching again I guess!

Monday sickness

I had a four day weekend because of cancelled classes and a week off from work. I am still horribly depressed that it is Monday. Does this mean I will never be happy and satisfied. Will I always need more time off? Probably, yes.

Anyway, I just spent about 4 hours researching possible internship locations for 437 and am feeling really excited about the thought of spending a few months working for one of these organizations. I am trying to find an internship doing special events for some sort of arts/culture organization (gallery, museum etc.), so if anyone has any ideas I would love input! I should have probably been spending those 4 hours studying for one of the two exams I have this week. This was much more fun and fulfilling though.

I did start getting ready for halloween this weekend. A pumpkin was bought and party plans made for the entire halloween weekend. I haven't 'celebrated' halloween since I was little, so I'm excited to dress up again. I wonder if there are any people my age who still trick or treat..?

Thank God it's Wednesday

I have never been so happy for it to be Wednesday, that's for sure! I am so thrilled that I am finished with yesterday, I wasn't sure if I would make it out alive with all the work I had to do. But I did and now it's over!

In all the mayhem of preparing for my crazy Tuesday, I was actually able to take a few hours this weekend and hang out with some of my friends. It was really nice. We haven't been spending that much time together lately (for many reasons). I barely even see my roommate anymore because I am never home. So she decided to make a huge delicious dinner for 5 of us. She organized everything and made sure everyone was there. It was so nice. We also played board games because two of my friends are obsessed and are always bringing us new games to try. I had so much fun. It seems like we all get so wrapped up in our crazy lives and routines that we forgot to give each other a call and just meet up for a coffee once in a while. It made the rest of my weekend so much more enjoyable to have taken that break and reconnected with my friends for one night.

The first step is admitting you have a problem...

I am a bad blogger. It's true. There is no denying it. I could start listing all the reasons why I have been so m.i.a from blog-ville for the past week or so, but instead I will be more subtle and just tell you about all of the things that I have been doing lately (which may or may not be viewed as constraints to such things as blog writing).
Basically, this upcoming Tuesday I have (no lies): two essays due, one midterm, and two presentations. That is all in one day. I guess I should consider myself pretty lucky to be in my fifth year here and not really be able to remember a time when I had quite that much to do for one day. Either way, I am freaking out. I also had a quiz and a paper this week, a workshop on Thursday.. and oh yeah.. work. Maybe I'm just being a big complainer, but the first school-work attack of the year always catches me off guard and stresses me out more than it probably should.
Also, my girlfriend's parents went to London for a week, and so we have their giant dog until they get back in a couple of days. Dogs are a big responsibility. They need so much attention and you need to like... take them outside and everything. Ugh. Anyway, now I'm definitely being a big complainer. I'll stop now.
Point is: I will get better at this blogging business.

Blog Summary #1

Over the past three weeks or so it has been really interesting to examine my leisure behaviour, values, and attitudes as closely as I have. Having this blog to update has forced me to think about how I define, choose, and enjoy my leisure in a way that I never have before.

I made it clear right in my first post that freetime absolutely does not equal leisure time for me. I have come to decide that in order for me to consider something as leisure it needs to have the following: Freedom. More specifically I need freedom from certain things like stress, pressures, and certain responsibilities. I don’t necessarily need the freedom to choose the activity. Oftentimes I find myself having the most fun doing leisure that I had no choice in whatsoever (even somethings that I didn’t originally want to do). I therefore also don’t need my leisure to be intrinsically motivated. I still consider extrinsically motivated leisure to be valuable. For example, I was both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to go paintballing a couple of weekends ago and I had such a good time. I love every minute of it and was completely in flow. Time went by so fast and I had so much energy (until it was all over). On the other hand, the wedding is a good example. This was a completely intrinsically motivated activity, I was completely free to go or not go to this event. I wanted to be there for no external reason. Despite this, I didn’t really have a great time. There were other factors at play, including a lack of freedom to sit with my friends and enjoy good company. This brings up another point. For me, spending time with the people that I care about makes almost any activity more enjoyable. The social aspect of my leisure activities contributes immensely to my level of enjoyment and satisfaction.
I’ve also realised that there are a lot of things that I LOVE doing, but never actually seem to do lately. I love going to concerts, museums and art galleries. I have been telling myself that it is money that has been constraining my lately from participating in these things, but I’m wondering if that’s all there is to it. There are also some friends who I don’t see very often anymore because of conflicting work and school schedules. Perhaps a little more planning and structure is required here. Sometimes leisure can’t be as spontaneous as we might like. Sometimes life and responsibilities mean making changes to how I used to leisure.

What has also been interesting for me to observe is that I often feel like I do nothing but go to school and work. This blog has made me appreciate my time more, and realize that I do in fact have lots of other things going on in my life. I’m not as boring as I thought.

Definitely not what I was expecting

So, although I really have nothing to compare it to, the wedding this weekend was a bit weird. I don't mean that it was non-traditional or anything... I just mean it was very different then what I was expecting. The ceremony itself was only about 10 minutes long, and didn't include anything about love or happiness... only the reading of laws and everything. Then during the reception (with bad food, and even worse music) nobody really made any toasts or speaches about the couple. Not even the parents. It seemed pretty sterile. Anyway, it didn't help that my girlfriend and I were put at a table on the other side of the room from the two tables of our friends (which were right beside each other). We were put at a table with people who we didn't know and who talked about which new sports car they wanted to buy all night long (hmmm, the BMW or the Lexus?), seriously. My girlfriend being quite the environmentalist and me not even having a driver's license didn't really fit in very well. Oh well. I guess it's really not important if I had fun or found it romantic at all, it wasn't my day. I'm sure it's really hard to organize a wedding, so I shouldn't complain.

Anyway, blog summary time! I wrote it earlier, but need to type it up for you guys now before it's late!

Wedding bells

I'm in Ottawa this weekend because I am going to a wedding today. I'm excited because I haven't been to a wedding since I was so so so young. It's a civil ceremony, and I don't know the couple very well so I'm curious to see how it all goes. Have to go get ready now!

Finally not sick anymore

I hate it so much when a cold lingers for weeks. I had been feeling mildly ill for about a week and a half.. just waiting for it everyday to fully hit me. Andàlast week it finally happened. I spent lots of time in bed and felt better this weekend. Biggest mistake one can make when 'recovering' from a cold = thinking that it's all gone too early and then spending the weekend running around without a care in the world. I went apple picking on Sunday with my girlfriend and almost her entire family. I'm from Ontario (Toronto) and this apple picking business is definitely not as big of a tradition there as it is here. It was interesting to see the mobs of people gathered in these orchards in gigantic groups filling gigantic bags with apples. And then all of the apple flavoured treats in the shop at the end. I enjoyed the day a lot, the weather was beautiful and I felt like I got to experience another (for lack of a better word) quirky Quebecer tradition. I loved it. Anyway, I probably should have spent the weekend being calm and resting to make sure I was fully recovered from my cold.. because on Monday morning it was back, and worse. I slept most of the day on Monday and then after work and class in the morning on Tuesday I had to go home because I could barely keep my eyes open. I ended up missing our Tuesday afternoon class, which I really didn't want to do, but I didn't think I could make it through.

On Wednesday (yesterday) I had to work all day, thank God I was feeling a lot better. I'm a nanny, so I look after two girls (1 yr old and 4 years old) a few days a week. Yesterday was one of the most intense days I've ever had at work though. While I was alone with the baby she had a seizure. It was her first time, and I've never seen someone having a seizure before... so I was completely scared out of my mind and brought her to the emergency room where we spent almost 5 hours going from waiting room to waiting room. Anyway, she ended up being ok and they think it shouldn't happen again. It was overwhelming and exhausting and I hope I never have to experience something like that again. Definitely enough drama for one week.

Oh Wednesday

So it's the middle of week. I'm at work all day (7-5:30) which makes me want to cry because I woke up yesterday morning with a bit of a cold and all I want to do is.. well.. not work. Sleeping would be nice. Sleeping until I don't feel sick anymore. But that's not how life works, so here I am.

So I am now a paintball-er. I paintball-ed on Sunday and have the pictures, welts, and bruises to prove it. It was a lot of fun, slightly nerve-wracking at times and even stressful. Most people got really competitive, and there was about 50 of us, so there was a lot of fierce adrenaline bouncing around. I just kept thinking how weird it was to be 'playing' war. That's really what we were doing. The different scenes and areas, the weapons, the uniforms, the strategy... it was war simulation. I felt strange and slightly uncomfortable about this. Anyway, pushing my overanalytical brain out of the way.. I had a blast and would definitely do it again (just not very often, it's a pretty expensive activity). Here is a picture of me in action, with basically my entire body covered in a hundred layers of padding, so you'll have to take my word on it... it's me.

It's Saturday morning.. err.. afternoon

Instead of going outside and enjoying my rare 'freetime' ('freetime' = that millisecond of non-work and non-school time that happens once in a while), today I am sitting around waiting for my girlfriend's landlord to come do some repairs on her apartment. Obviously he is significantly late and our day is put on pause until he shows up, starts and then finishes his job. Fun. Thus far, today has not been a day of living leisure (lesson 1: freetime does not equal leisure time). To be more positive though this empty waiting around time has forced me to actually sit down and face the reality that school has started yet again and I need to get some work done (hence the blogging). The weather is also rather uninspiring today, so I'm not feeling too sad about missing out on any outdoor adventures right now.

To fill my time and entertain myself I have been listening to music all morning and doing some mindless web-surfing. I am currently in love with these songs:
1. Santogold- L.E.S artistes
2. Bat for Lashes- Prescilla
3. The Sounds- Painted by numbers
And these websites:
1. http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/
2. http://www.idiomag.com/
Check them out! You know.. if you want.

Tomorrow I am going to play (play? experience? do?) paintball for the first time. It is of course supposed to rain. I have no idea what to expect from the day, but I am definitely excited. It's an activity that I've been saying for years that I want to try. So tomorrow is finally the day. There will be pictures to share I'm sure.