Seniors and Recreational Opportunities 1

We all need to feel like we are contributing, especially after retirement. Often, when we retire some of us may struggle with not having something to “sink their teeth into”. Our time is not filled with work, so can it be filled by our recreational activities? Those of us who have been retired for a while, know that we are busier than we were when we were working.

I ran across an interesting concept and it helped me understand how and perhaps why not seniors use their leisure time. There are three interrelated concepts of leisure, Casual Leisure, Project-Based Leisure and Serious Leisure. These ideas were developed by Canadian sociologist Robert Stebbins, Ph.D.

According to Dr. Stebbins, a person who is working typically engages mostly in activities that can be defined as Casual Leisure. These activities do not take a lot of planning, can be flexible in nature and do not require extensive commitments. Casual Leisure is critical for managing stress, improving health, and for the sheer fun of the experience. Examples of Casual Leisure activities are watching TV, reading a book, walking in a park, taking a fitness or cooking class or having a fun hobby like gardening or swimming. So many seniors who are working part-time would engage in this type of leisure.

Many people are also involved in Project-Based Leisure, which is a short-term enjoyable commitment like coaching a child’s soccer team for a season, which for me, took 12 years until my children no longer wanted to play.

A Serious Leisure activity is one that takes extra commitment and develops to the point that it becomes part of a person’s identity. Examples of Serious Leisure could be playing in a band, regular volunteering for a cause, a hobby or sport that becomes so important that it begins to define a person. My brother-in-law is into restoring antique cars and that defines who he is as a person and has since he was in his early 20’s. My sister-in-law is into photography and it helps define who she is as a person. I am into volunteering and giving workshops and when I was working, I did volunteer work for boys and girls clubs.

Many of you when you were working were probably engaged in all three types of leisure behaviours like I was. However, after retirement developing a Serious Leisure activity may become critical in replacing the identity that has been lost through exiting the workforce.

When we retire, we want more flexibility in how we manage our time, and Public recreation departments need to facilitate opportunities that are flexible (Casual Leisure) for working seniors, as well as more enriching and involved (Project-Based or Serious Leisure) for those seniors looking to contribute and develop an identity through a meaningful leisure pursuit. The problem is they don’t. Seniors I have talked to who have thought about volunteering or taking part in activities say that they have met with barriers which involve time commitments and money that have turned them off of taking part.