Leisure Matters: Cross Continent Conversations in a Time of Crisis

Abstract

Months after COVID-19 emerged as a newsmaker in Asia, a new strain of March Madness emerged in North America. Incredulity followed as leisure activities, hallowed as venues and expressions of individual and collective identity were closed. Freedoms, real and perceived, were curtailed. Like others, we sought to maintain social connections. For the first time in decades, our weekly on-line conversations became normative. Two authors remain working to sustain the academy’s work during this crisis and the other is retired. Spatially we reside in a major metropolitan area of 6 million, a small west coast college town, and a Great Lakes region vacation community. Our discussion connects leisure research and the context of basic rights that North Americans have long taken for granted. This commentary emerged from integrated discussion regarding how the crisis affects and may change leisure behavior from multiple perspectives.