by Anncan

Created on: September 02, 2008

While this holiday was founded at a time when labor needed to be caste in a light of honor, now leisure and the celebration of it seem to be the perfect complement to honor the pattern of work and play. There is such a sense of closure where leisure ends and work begins that the two are almost a yin/yang event. Granted, leisure times surface from time to time in the following nine months but the main focus of it here in America is summertime. Once school starts, there is less attention to it.

We seem to have such a need for frenzied activity and organized days in the bulk of the calendar year that we don't give proper focus to the benefits of 'down' time. Thats more what my vote goes to. Call it summer if you will, but my argument is the elevation of honorable leisure that summer represents.

I don't know how much of our focus is driven by weather patterns. I suspect that most of the population connote 'fun' with 'sun'. Given our delight in water/sun sports, that also lends weight to the promotion of the first Monday in September to celebrate all that is good and wholesome about such leisure - even if a part of the population have other preference for their down time.

There will be many 'nays' to the notion of shifting the meaning of a traditional holiday. Seems that argument has lost its punch with similar shifts in other holidays. Change is the thing naysayers really seem to fight. It really won't make a lot of difference to me personally but I'm glad to air an argument for celebrating leisure over work.

It seems our culture is so averse to 'down' time because of the economic insecurity and the drive to make achievement equal the almighty dollar. Perhaps I'm blindsighted to the cultural phenomenon because I myself am recently retired and bent on finding meaningfulness in leisure. It does mean that I find cheaper methods of entertainment but that seems to be affecting a large part of the population with the increases of cost to leisure events and the financial limitations of extensive travel.

'Recreational' drugs and the increase of gambling demonstrate a hunger for escape from the humdrum. We also seem to be more sedentary in the cooler months. Let's use this cultural message and attach a healthier, honorable experience of leisure. It could also give a boost to the honor of labor and the complementary time element we attach to each.

I've been an advocate of change all my life. It seems to me to be the ultimate 'reality' test if our culture wants to survive. We must adapt. We must embrace change. And we must give equal emphasis to the patterns of work and leisure that make the ride easier to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

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