A Moment in Time: Leisure and the Manifestation of Purpose

Abstract

There has been little consideration given to understanding the concept of time within leisure. Just what is time when considered as an ordering mechanism of our leisure behaviors? Most leisure research has approached the concept of time through a largely Western, monochronic understanding which emphasizes time for its linear ordering and quantifiable qualities. The dominance of this implicit understanding of time is also notably influenced by pressing ideologies that define Western society, such as neoliberalism, which can distort our personal discourse with our own time: we see it as a commodity – something to be used efficiently and to be invested. What this thought-piece aims to do is consider the existential properties of time, particularly the “moment,” as an opportunity to “achieve [the] total realization of a possibility” as illustrated by Lefebvre.