Vacations! It's a time to re-create, or some would say "re-energize", to rediscover something that has been lost or neglected, such as family, friends or a personal interest that doesn't fit in with a professional activity. Even if work can bring its share of satisfactions, there is always the pressure of necessity or result that never lets up. Leisure, on the other hand, is in itself a self-satisfying activity - nothing and no-one forces you to do it.
Those who work in the leisure world do not have the same perception of the activity as those who enjoy it. For them, satisfaction is the same as for other workers: a job well done, interesting encounters, satisfied customers and a decent income. The activity itself may still bring satisfaction, but for their leisure time, they choose something else.
The pleasure of doing something without constraint, of exercising one's abilities, of achieving a goal without any other meaning (because the mountain is there*), of playing in a team, of provoking effects for the sole aesthetic or social pleasure, these activities bring a satisfaction that depends on no one but those who choose to commit themselves to them. Some remember the blessed days of their studies and take a master class, a summer school, a technical immersion course, a diving course, just to learn or to do something, to meet passionate people, without any professional or mercantile aim.
Create, socialize, share... the dream of a liberated society is within our grasp. Artificial intelligence and robots can bring about the 12-hour working week if we mobilize them in this direction. All that remains is to develop our creativity.
Have a great summer!
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
* Sentence attributed to Malory in response to a journalist who asked him what the point of reaching the summit of Mount Everest was.
Illustration: evabenal AI -Pixabay
