The leisure education intervention I would start would be for individuals who have the leisure patterns of doing drugs for fun. The areas of focus would be appreciate leisure, make decisions about leisure and use resources .

The first intervention would have a dicussion with these individuals and have them understand what leisure is to them. If they find it is a way to relax, I would help them to identify with activities that are less detrimental to their health. Introducing them to new activities would be done as a group. I would write down on a board the reasons and benefits they feel they get from drugs and would associate such positive factors with healthier activities that can provide the same benefit. At the same time, members will also be able to consider the benefits of leisure participation.

Next focus would be on helping them make decisions. The most important aspects here would be to help them develop the abilities to solve problems and to identify goals. Many individuals turn to drugs in order to avoid facing their problems. Also, many of these individuals face a period in their lives where they are confused and turn to drugs for support. Therefore, helping them  identify what their goals are can assist them on getting back on the right track.  For the intervention, I would give them case studies to work on. These case studies would include a vast majority of problems that many people who do drugs face. They will be set into groups and will be asked to find ways to solve such problems and set a goal for the person in the case study. Once they are done, their case study and results will be shared with everyone else. Such cases will help these individuals reflect on current issues and can help develop a rational sense of reasoning.

The last area of focus is on usage of resources.  Many of people who do drugs do not know what else to do with their time.  This free time can result in a need to fulfill their boredom and can sometimes leads to drugs. Also, once they are on drugs, they do not know where to turn to for help. It is for this reason that I will focus on helping them locate facilities and will help them obtain answers.  This will be done with the help of  the activity from appreciate leisure. Once we find out what activities can provide the same benefits and motives as drugs, another list will be provided stating where these activities can be done. This will encourage them to go out and do those activities. Also, another list will be provided which shows them where they can get psychological help for their addiction at cheap prices. As well, I will have a question box available. If participants have any questions about where they can do a certain activity and are too shy to ask in person, I will have a question box open to all questions. Answers to these questions will be provided by the next session.

Such interventions should be taken more seriously because they allow these people to get the help they need to live a healthier lifestyle. Who would have thought leisure would be a mean to this goal?

Byee

The benefit of leisure education in my life is that it allows me to gain greater knowledge on the impact that leisure can have on one’s life. I find it benefits my life because it gives me the chance to educate people I care about and teach them how to leisure and what it is. For instance, when my friends and I are broke and dont have money to consume leisure, we would  sometimes just stay at home and meet up once we all got paid. But with leisure education in my life, I explain to them that leisure is not just about doing the activity, but it’s about the positive feelings we gain from it. I explain that even if we just hang around one persons house and tell stories, we are still experiencing leisure if we are having a good time. Such understandings taught me to appreciate leisure in itself. Leisure education taught me that leisure does not revolve solely around money. I realized that when I go out with my friends for a nice dinner, I am mostly enjoying myself because of the company I have surrounding me. Teaching people that leisure is more of a state of mind can change the way we perceive it.

A leisure I would love to pursue is playing drums. The guitar and drums are the two instruments that I find very appealing. The guitar is something I enjoy more watching, but the drums are something I always wanted to play. I find it’s an instrument that allows you to let loose and just be “free”. The reason for playing would be purely intrinsically motivation since it is just for the personal enjoyment. In the text book, we find 3 main constraints that can prevent an individual to pursue a leisure activity: intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural. Surprisingly, after reflecting on this activity I am finding myself to be facing all 3 forms of constraints.

I find myself facing an intrapersonal constraint because I really don’t think I would be a good drummer. I’m not a rocker, nor do I ever see myself being one. I just like the idea of playing the drums and being able let go, but I don’t have the guts to. Why? I’m not even sure. I was never the type to play against the rules or be the girl that rebels. Although the idea is nice, I don’t find it is who I am. As well, I tried the guitar once and I found it so hard to play, that’s why I enjoy listening to really talented guitarist such as Rodrigue and Gabriela. I am psychologically preventing myself from playing the drums. I might try it one day and might end up loving it, but since I find it would go against who I am, I don’t think I would be able to give it my all.  I can overcome this restraint by just telling myself that trying a new activity won’t change who I am. I know it would just be something I do purely for leisure and would never become part of a band something. Just going for it and trying it once will probably allow me to get over this fear of changing who I am . I’ll eventually try to build the courage, but until then drumming is such a dream.

My interpersonal constraint would be my parents calling it a waste of time. I know they would find that I could try a more intellectual instrument such as the violin or the piano. My parents basically associate drummers to people who aren’t hygienic and don’t go to school. This is obviously a stereotype and doesn’t apply to everyone. I know my parents wouldn’t forbid me from playing, but  I know they wouldn’t support it. The best way to overcome this would be by talking to them and just explaining that playing the drums is something that always intrigued me. They would listen to be, I doubt they would change their mind about the stereotype. I can’t enjoy something if I know someone I love isn’t happy of my participation. Thus, playing the drums would affect the relationship I have with my parents and this is every big interpersonal barrier.

The structural barrier would be finances. Right now I am working on trying to keep my expenses cleared and after everything is paid for, I have no cash left. I would love to take lessons but with the lack of time and money, that idea has died. I can’t even afford to save up for it right now and I would want to take lessons before buying a pair of drums.  I can always try taking up an extra shift at work. I mean I find this barrier is the least hard one to overcome because I could always work more during December break. Money would be the least of my concerns to pursue this activity.

To conclude, I am sure that if I try the activity one day and enjoy it, I will become determined to fight all 3 barriers and pursue this leisure activity. I want to try this activity because I believe I can achieve internal competence through it. Reaching this goal will encourage me to become self-determined.

Gn!

Ok night guys

     My leisure over the summer was not as active as I would have liked it to be, but it was still enjoyable. I didn’t take any summer classes this year but as soon as school ended, I started working full time until school began again. I work in a call center and as some of us know, customers don’t hold back when they are discussing their issues over the phones. Although we do get a lot of angry customers, I enjoy the company of the people I work with which makes the job a lot easier to bare. I still work there part time and have no complaints.. so far.

      During summer, I went up north a few times with friends and had a lot of fun. We went to Mont-Tremblant to just hang out and had a blast. We did a few activities such as go-karting and playing ball. This was purely leisure because I felt sooo relaxed and it felt sooo good to just have that time with your friends. I also had a few weddings to attend in summer, one of them being the best one everrrr! It was an Indian wedding and it involved sooo much dancing. The door floor was open since the very start of the wedding and keep running throughout the night. Good times! I miss that night a lot since I had suuuch a blast. Aside from those few times, most of my leisure was spent at a friend’s house, at the movies or just on my own doing something I enjoy, such as cooking, reading, chatting, etc. I really wanted to go on vacation somewhere, but I couldn’t take a week off work. Overall, I find I had a decent summer and wouldn’t have changed much about it.

       The most common behavioral patterns I noticied would probably be that I enjoy a lot of low keys activities. Such as just hanging out in a room rather than going out everynight. Of course the occasional night out is always needed, but I wouldn’t enjoy those nights as much if it happened often. I love to just be home watching a movies or having a nice conversation with friends over a meal. Socialization is a big factor in my leisure life and I wouldn’t change anything about it. Meeting new people and learning different things can be soo much fun especially when you get to learn about a whole new culture. I do find that most of the leisure I do is intrinsicly motivating because of the peaceful satisfaction I get from it. This positive feeling drives me to pursue the leisure as many times as I have the chance too. I don’t find many of my activities to be extrinsicly motivating, but there is always the exception on an occasion.     Anyway I enjoyed my summer and I hope the rest of you guys did too. See you all in class.

Adios