Blog Summary #2

My Leisure Education

Honourable Judge, Members of the jury:

I stand before you today with the mission to prove beyond reasonable doubt, that I, Cathrine Rambech, have become leisure educated. I present to you evidence A- G from my blog entries:

A: I appreciate leisure. In my blog this is shown through numerous leisure experiences and explorations. I physically and psychologically feel the benefits of leisure and recognize how it affects my wellbeing, and in turn, my quality of life. Leisure is not segmented pieces of time, rather a state of mind allowing me to experience it at any given moment.

B: I am aware of myself in leisure. In my blog this is shown through my leisure choices. I tried kiting because of my past fascination and appreciation of snowboarding/wakeboarding and recognized how kiting could bring me current and future challenges and satisfaction.
Through self-awareness and introspection I studied my leisure values and attitudes and their significance guide me in my leisure pursuits.

C: I am self-determined in leisure. In my blog this is shown through freedom of choice; my leisure participation is based on what I want, feel and prefer and not external factors. With freedom of choice comes responsibility, and I have a “what I put in is what I will get out” attitude. By combining that with self-determination I open the door to initiate new leisure opportunities.

D: I interact socially during leisure. In my blog this is shown through me participating in leisure experiences with friends and acquaintances. More importantly however is how I engage in, connect and interact with my surroundings during leisure. My actions and ways of communicating impact the leisure experience of others, just as theirs impact mine. I have developed friendships, bonding and comradeship through my leisure experiences.

E: I use resources facilitating leisure. In my blog this can best be supported by my “quest” to become a Kite-boarder. I progress towards my desire for optimal arousal by talking to and watching other kiters, surfing the internet for places to kite, calling a kite school, reading books and magazines, and buying equipment. I know that identifying and using these resources will help me to participate and experience my leisure of choice.

F: I make decisions about leisure. I make conscious decisions about leisure. In my blog this is shown through my self-awareness and appreciation of leisure. Since I highly value leisure and the intrinsic rewards I get from it, I am determined to solve problems and barriers that act as constraints in order for me to participate. Leisure does not come served on a silver platter; it requires effort, sometimes a whole Leisure Education. But oh is it worth it!

G: I am requiring recreation activity skills. In my blog this is shown through my numerous kite flying practises. I do not yet have enough skill to go out in the water 20knots of wind and kiteboard. Instead I am in open fields on land, slowly but surely learning how to manoeuvre my kite; keeping it in the wind window, doing figure 8’s and kite loops, which are all movements that I need to have control over and feel comfortable with before I strap on my board and get my feet wet.

On being a Leisure Educator: I have leisure educated someone, (see "I did it I did it" blog entry) however, it was through my blog and not in person. It still counts, but I think I can do better...
A leisure flame is burning inside me. I hope to give off sparks and light someone else’s fire.

I rest my case.

In my hands...

...I hold the letter that I sent to myself from Leisure class. It arrived yesterday afternoon. Makes me realize how quickly time passes by.... But, I DID Leisure Educate someone within that short amount of time. Ahhhh, happiness!!!

I DID IT ! I DID IT ! I DID IT !

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement!!!

I, Cathrine Rambech, have leisure educated somebody (*wild applause*)

The interesting thing is that it happened in a way that I was not prepared for. Last tuesday in my leisure class my teacher, aka "playful leisure guru" asked us to write down the name of a person who we thought might need to be leisure educated. I wrote down my friends name on a piece of paper, what I wanted to do, and how I was going to do it. (hmmm...that last sentence sounds a bit like a murder plot, but it is not...anyways) I then put the letter in an envelope, sealed it, and addressed it to myself.

I spoke with my friend (same person whos name I had written down) today. She told me that last week she had read my blog and thought that it was really cool. (yeah, thank you, i know...LOL) OK, are you ready cuz here comes the awsome part. She said that she had made the decision to try out a dance class, (salsa to be exact) because she had seen all the different things that I did for leisure in my blog and had realized that she did not really have enough of, and I quote: "those thingies that you do that make you really happy" (her definition of leisure, lol) in her life. And so she went because it was the first thing that had come into her mind. How nice is that??? And, even better, she is going back!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say I feel damn proud right now!!!

The letter that I wrote is probably going to come early next week. It is going to feel so good to hold it in my hand and know that I actually managed, (although not in the way I planned) to leisure educate someone. It doesnt take much....

Madonna!!!

I went to Madonna this week. OMG, OMG, OMG! I do not even have words to describe how amazing this lady is. I sang along to all the songs and at the end I had lost my voice. I think this is the best concert I ever went to (and I have been to a quite a lot...) She just keeps getting better and better :) I bought the t-shirt!!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

My thanksgiving weekend was a fun filled adventure. This is what I did:

Hiking and BBQ at Oka park and beach. Beautiful scenery, warm and sunny, delicious food and great company. Only thing I could complain about was the taste of my winecooler drink. Yuck!

I also went to see my friend kite. It is the end of the kiteboard season and he wanted to get in a last ride before the water got too cold, so I accompanied him to the beach. Learned a lot from watching him, and cant wait until next season. Not upset though, because the winter season is coming and I can go kiting riding my snowboard. Crossing my fingers for lots and lots and lots of powder !!!

Last but not least, I went to l'abre a abre, where you wear a harness and do an obstacle course. That was really challenging, but super fun!

The whole weekend was a leisure experience, and I appreciate that there are so many things that give me pleasure and make me enjoy my life even more :)

As usual, lots of pics to look at:

I have bought a kite!

Yes!!!! I have bought a kite and I am so excited. As you all know I tried kiting a while back and I fell in love with it. I recognized that in order for me to be able to kite I would have to buy my own, because if not I would be dependent on using my friend kite. So, voila, one structural constraint removed. Buying kite gear on ebay $900. Postfare $60. Having the kite in my hands knowing that there are so many awsome leisure experiences to come; priceless!
My baby is a Best Waroo 11m. It came with a bar, lines, a pump and a bag and it is awsome. (Fill in a whole section on consumerism here??? hehehehe)
Below are the pics!

Falling for Fall

This past saturday I went with my friend to see him do some kiteboarding. I couldnt go in the water myself, so I had to watch from a distance. It was cool to see him and I enjoyed the session. However, I would have love to have participated, but for this event I was just a spectator. (My skill level is still not high enough...yet...) I know that you can be leisuring as a spectator, but I felt more like I was doing recreational activity than anything else. It made me think about how something can be leisure one day and recreation the next depending on your level of engagment.....

Sunday I went for a hike at Mont St.Hillaire and I was leisuring as I was walking the trails, enjoying the views from the mountain top and spending time with my friend. Interesting to observe other people on the mountain and guess wether or not they were at leisure. You cannot tell just by looking at people, but it sure is fun to guess :) Fall colors were stunning!!!

Dream Dream Dream

It is almost midnight. I should be sleeping, but I am surfing the net for kiteboarding stuff..... I hope there is wind this weekend so I can go kiting.... *loooooooonging*

Here is a pic of what I will look like when I kiteboard next season..hehehe...With some intense practise in the upcoming months...

But seriously, how cool does it look???