Blog Summary #1

I Leisure, Therefore I am.

Ladies and Gentlemen: time for a blog summary. I have had the opportunity to do quite a bit of blogging, and in addition, my AHSC Leisure Education class has provided me with some thought provoking material. Here is a piece of my mind:

Leisure is easier said than done. I know this because I am taking a university class to leisure educate myself. If it was so easy then everyone would know how to do it, right? However, we do not. Point proven? I think so.

My own leisure education started with trying to define what leisure was. I wrote that “Leisure is something that I do because I want to do it, not because I have to do it.” I thought it was a pretty good first attempt, *pat on the back*, but realize that it fades when put next to the “state of mind, freely chosen, that results in intrinsic feelings of happiness, satisfaction, pleasure and or enjoyment” definition that we worked out in class. What I find interesting though, is that my blog entries (and what I write about in regards to leisure) fit into that definition. My leisure brings out those exact characteristics, and is the reason why I do what I do. See, I have always recognized leisure as an important aspect of my life, but probably on more of a superficial level, meaning that I would not really question, ponder or enquire. What I have come to realize, is that leisure is a science, and that I will benefit tremendously from exploring and widening my horizons. By educating myself with leisure I can properly make use of it. I am sure there is a correlation between life satisfaction and leisure, and who would not want to have the best quality of life possible?

So far, the leisure education class has brought me increased self-awareness and leisure awareness. I am starting to pay attention to what kind of role leisure plays in my day to day life, and how my view of leisure changes with what I learn from my studies. A perfect example would be how I used to view leisure and work as two distinct entities because of time. It would be work time or leisure time. Datillo states that “leisure does not require a special timeframe in which to occur…that leisure can be experienced whenever”. By applying that I have come to the realization that the two can mingle and intertwine. Having the ability to incorporate leisure in my daily routines allows me more opportunities to have feelings of wellbeing. I like that idea a lot!
When I leisure I also try to be attentive towards the experience itself. When I went kiting this weekend, the wind suddenly died, and I pointed out that I was experiencing a leisure constraint, in this case a structural one. Before the wind decided to disappear though, I experienced Flow!

This blog has created an interesting opportunity for me to have a closer peek at my relationship with leisure; it reflects my leisure attitudes and values. Leisure education starts with me and I have a whole lot of work ahead. I want to focus on learning the appropriate terminology in order to eloquently converse about leisure at an academic level to my surroundings, with the goal to enlighten them on the importance of leisure in their life. Terminology I can cram, but the essence of leisure I have to experience. Its tough, but somebody’s got to do it! :)

Current mood: EXCITED!

This weekend i tried KITING for the first time, and holy s***, it was AWSOME! Okay, so the wind died after and hour and the bugs were eating me, but except from that, it was flipping amazing!!!
I was on this huge grass field trying to manoever a kite in the air above me. It looks easy when someone is doing it, but when you do it yourself it is a tad more difficult. I want to go kiteboarding next season, but before I can do that I need to know how to use and control the kite. It is the kite that gives you the power on the water when you are riding your board, and if you cannot control it, well, you are not going to go very far.....
I think it will take a whole lot of practise, but I am in such good spirits! Not only was the kiting fun, but the guy that took me is the hottest nicest coolest dude ever. Ahhh! Life is good :) :) :)
YAY!!!

A Walk In the Park

I have made up my mind; I am going to start working out! (For real this time!) I found this "get in shape" program for beginners online, and I really liked it. Todays mission was to walk 5k's and I DID IT! Hehehe. I am a good walker, so it was not that difficult, but tomorrow they want me to start jogging, and that, well, I am not that into.... The thing is that I really want to experience the runner high. I have several friends that are so into running, and they are telling me all these stories about feeling super fantastic after working out, and I am kinda curious. Great for mind and body they say. The work out program is for four weeks. And it gets progressivly more difficult. I wonder if I will succeed at this challenge that I have made for myself. Do I get to buy new running shoes now?

Good Times!

This weekend was great! Spent lots of time with old friends and even met some new ones. Had a "morning after the night before" wake up on saturday, but was fine by noon.... hehehe....Here is a pic of my girlfriends and I.

Finally Friday!

The best part of the week is here! Thats right; its the weekend! I have to say that my week was fairly good though, so no complaints, but still, not much beats friday saturday and sunday. I try to get most of my studying done during the week days, so come weekend I am free to do whatever. I went shopping today and got such a nice outfit. See, tonight I am having dinner with the ladies at St.Laurent and it is dress up time! Might post some pics tomorrow from our night, on the condition that we look and act properly this evening. But I make no promises.....
Cheers and bottoms up!

Cookie Monster

Oh Yesssss! I have just made chocolate chip cookies :) :) :)
It was supposed to be 20 in total, but it ended up being 19 because I ate some of the dough....
I am going to sit down with a magazine, and have a cookie and a glass of milk. Life is good!

Take A Hike!

I am a big fan of hiking. It could be anything from a gentle stroll in the forest to more challenging trails up a mountain side. The combo of nature, fresh air and company of friends is a winning one! I have been hiking ever since I was a kid. Now, at the age of...... a little bit older....I am still very passionate about this activity. Svalbard provided some excellent hiking trails and I thought I would use this opportunity to post some photos. My friend actually just sent me some pics and I had to smile thinking about the good times we had. You will notice that we are carrying a rifle. That is because there are polar bears in the area, and the rifle is used as protection. In worst case scenario, it will be used on the bear, but like I said, ONLY during worst case scenario. More often it is used to fire warning shots to scare the bear, should it be tempted to look for a human meal. Please be advised that no polar bears were harmed on this hike.

Lazy Sunday

It's sunday and I am still sick. Presently on the couch, stretched out, wrapped in a blanket. Quite comfortable actually. And, the best part; I have enough energy to surf the internet. (A big thank you to whomever created the wireless option!)

I am online almost (okay, who am I kidding here....almost?....let me rewrite that...) I am online every single day. If I was to give a guestimation I would say that I spend around 1 - 2 hours online daily doing everything from surfing and emailing, to downloading music to my ipod. I wonder how that compares to the general population..... (*making a mental note to check out statscan*) And that does not include the time spent in relation to school and doing research for papers. Then I am sure that I could add on an extra hour or maybe two. (Or potentially more...depends on how much I have been procrastinating.....ehhhmmm... )

There are several sites that I visit on a regular basis. My favs are thesuperficial.com and perezhilton.com . Yes, they are gossip sites, but seriously, with all the academic information that I have to process during one week at school, my brain is yearning for some easy breezy and entertaining stuff. I also spend time checking out the online versions of several norwegian newspapers, just to keep myself updated with what happens in the mother country. Go NORWAY! Yes, in case there was any doubt, I am Norwegian...I have viking blood running in my veins.... Be afraid, be very afraid!!!! Muhahahaha :)

I just finished downloading an album with Morten Harket. Norwegian artist. (From the group AHA. Remember the song Take On Me???) There is this song called Darkspace that I love. It's been buzzing in the back my mind for a while now. It deserves a spot on my ipod playlist :)
You can check it out on youtube : clickhere

Happy listening!

Sick As A Dog...On a Saturday....Boooooo!

I HAD big plans for this weekend. Sailing on saturday afternoon, party with the girls saturday evening, and attempt to begin my work out regimen on sunday. But, who get's sick? (#%!#)

It is saturday afternoon, and I have barely moved from the couch all day. Started to feel iffy last night and hoped that a substantial dose of vitamin c and garlic was going to kill whatever evil had entered my body....No such luck however. Woke up this morning with a fever, headache, sore throat and no ability to breathe through my nostrils...

After mustering up a fair amount of energy I managed to drag myself to the bathroom and find the Dayquils. This stuff is the bomb! Half an hour later I actually felt like a human being. But, I know that even though I feel okay, I'm really not. Hence the taking it uber easy and relaxing. Sleeping off my cold usually works micracles for me. Hopefully I will be fit for fight come monday morning.

Right now all I want to do is nap, but there are two cicadas outside the house that are having a blast driving me nuts with their piercingly loud musical abilities. Amazing creatures these bugs...I saw one up close the other day and they look so prehistoric.... I found a pic online, whatcha think?

Arctic Leisure Adventure

I spent this summer in the Arctic. 78 Degrees North to be exact.....Crazy? A bit. Fun? Definetely! Although I spent most of the time working, I also had plenty of leisure time. One of my favs was snowmobiling. Check out the photos. And, don't forget to admire the scenery. Breathtaking! The saying "in the middle of NOWHERE" suddenly made sense to me......

Leisure???

I love leisure….But what is leisure, really?

There is no perfect academic definition of leisure. I could potentially spend the next paragraphs discussing the numerous definitions provided by dictionaries and theorists, but I will give my own simplified version instead. Should you however, be curious about a more in-depth explanation of leisure, Google “leisure definition” and browse through the 17,000,000 hits you get…

My definition: Leisure is something that I do because I want to do it, not because I have to do it.
My view of leisure is to some extent black and white and could probably be argued to be wrong, but so can the rest of the definitions and explanations of leisure as well. Leisure is personal and unique to each individual. For the purpose of this blog (and it is MY blog after all, hehehe) is to show the world what leisure is to me. And hopefully inspire you to think about what leisure is to you!

- Cathrine

Testing Testing 1...2...3...

Yiiiiihaaaa!

I am so excited. This is my first blog ever and I cannot help but smile :)
My name is Cathrine, and this blog is being created in the name of LEISURE! I will be sharing my thoughts, ideas and randomness with you. It is going to be a wild ride, so hold on!

Tata for now :)