Dear Listeners,
If you consider life to embody general categories of living, it would break down into work, relationship, recreation and devotion. In adult living, recreation can get quickly overlooked secondary to bills, career path or family, and then confused for other categories. If you happen to have struck the blend of work becoming fun, take a moment and pat yourself on the back for that accomplishment. Good for you.
However, many experience work as just that- ‘work.’ It can be consuming and not necessarily all paid (eg: parenting, care-taking), sometimes work sucks all the air out of the room, or was central to living/getting by. As a result recreation can get crowded out, or ignored resulting in its atrophied state. If this is you, then read on.
Here in the North East we are we are finally getting a little bit of snow, months ago I decided to do some skiing and bought a pass (thus forcing myself because I don’t want to throw money away). It’s been several years since I skied in Vermont. I roped my enthusiastic father into my plan (to keep me motivated), fortunately the timing worked and we were able to take advantage of recent snow fall. You can read in this paragraph how many steps were taken to ensure this manifested. Thats how little recreation is part of my routine.
Anyway, what unfolded was complete absorption on staying within my skill level and brushing up on (lets loosely call it) ‘technique.’ To make up a formula for enjoyment, it seems to be the following;
fun activity + minimal effort + ‘just enough’ challenge = moments of ‘flow’ (thus smiles and clear mind)
I forgot how tricky Vermont skiing can be, particularly when the base is not so great. Conversations with any willing participants included a not-so-expert analysis on temperature, cloudiness (vs sun), wind, days since last snowfall and volume of skiers on conditions. Engrossed in these factors I realized the lightness in the escape from worries of daily living. It is certainly a luxury and expense to ski, but if you think about it, a person can dive into any hobby and yield a similar ‘lose yourself’ experience. It is funny consider a bigger decision of the day to be- which trail to take! Gardening and hiking appears to have a similar effect for patients and friends, and helps reduce their stress, worries and uplifts mood. I’d suggest thinking about recreation as similar to play, something unrelated to work, with unstructured time and spontaneity. Think 5 year olds with blocks, dolls and cars. Play tends to disappear for adults after school, when life ramps up its complexity. Over-work and stress can wear on the body, mind and soul, recreation expands all of that. It is part of your soul-food.
Below is a photo atop a trail, honestly one of the best things about skiing, is the view. The stories on the lifts are always a treat; the nursing student attending school in FL returned home for relief from the heat and local politics, the 20-something couple milking their Ikon pass, heading to Canada for more fun, the 60 year old guy skiing his heart out and delaying his return home to family because he can’t bear not skiing, and the 30 something software guy with fiberoptic connection out for lunch hour runs to ‘wipe the slate clean’ after a challenging morning at work. It is inspiring to watch advanced skiers find pleasure in their dance like movements though the black diamond moguls.
I’m grateful the Mountain makes itself available for us to play, I encourage each of you to find time to play, because it feeds other aspects of life. And of course, writing this I also reminding myself of this importance :)
I just got a new mic and am figuring my way around audio recording, bear with me as recordings change hopefully for the better, enjoy the meditation inspired by some recent readings.
Feel free to share this with anyone you think this might help. As always, take care of yourself, become the change you wish to see in the world. SL
The Purple Flame Meditation of Infinite Peace