 John and Friend
John is an Emeritus Professor in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Studies from California State University, Northridge, and a retired Lecturer from Cal Poly. For thirty-four years he has taught classes in Commercial Recreation, Tourism Planning, Management and Leadership, and Wilderness Survival. He earned his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in Organizational Development and Curriculum Design in Higher Education.
John also served as Lead Evaluator for the SLO Sheriff's Search & Rescue division. He is a current member of the Atascadero Writer's Club and can be contacted by calling 805-440-9529 or by email.
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Refreshing a Life
by John Bullaro, Ph.D
Reading a daily newspaper or watching a CNN news sows dissatisfaction in me. At these times I want to hide under a rock or run away to some remote place to feel safe and less vulnerable. At other times I yearn for a past where I imagine (erroneously) that life was less stressful. Yet over time I have learned a strategy that relieves my stress and restores hope. My secret: indulge in pure recreation as part of my recreation curricula.
Recreation—pure recreational activities—improves my quality of life by fulfilling my requirement that it must be physically challenging (slightly), emotionally satisfying, and intellectually stimulating. No, I don't belong to a soccer club, sky dive, or race motorcycles. I select pure recreational activity over diversional recreation, especially competitive sports.
Pure Recreation vs. Diversion Activities
Pure recreation involves purposively choosing an activity that engages me intellectually, emotionally, and physically. This type of activity is as important to my quality of life as a healthy diet, weight training, not smoking, or over using alcohol. There are a few so-called diversion recreation activities that can harm the participant by causing stress, disappointment, loss of family, money, and self respect. One example of an diversion activity that is harmful is gambling. This bias is based on research not religious dogma. The research began with studies done in 1985 by Black Hills State University. The results showed that when Deadwood South Dakota allowed the nation's first legalized gaming outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Atlantic City, the town's quality of life suffered. Crime skyrocketed, domestic violence increased, homelessness shot up, and many seniors felt inclined to leave their homes because of an increase in property taxes and the exodus of local Mom and Pop businesses that became slot machines stores instead of selling groceries, hardware, and clothing.
The point is, gambling is one type of a popular "diversion recreation activity" that does not, in the long run, improve quality of life. Gamble cautiously and remember it is not a life affirming activity, only a distraction from daily life. (Note: the edifices of Las Vegas are built with the gambler's lost money.)
Passive recreations—such as chess, checkers, and cards—is fun and can be socially stimulating. These can be part of one's recreation curricula, yet keep in mind these activities do nothing for physical fitness. Other passive recreation such as reading, arts and crafts, and playing a musical instrument are very intellectually stimulating, and emotional satisfying, yet they too do not promote physical fitness. Still, I include these types of activities in my recreation curricula.
I understand that some folks are limited or unable to engage in activities that have a physical fitness component. For them passive recreation can be a salvation. However, for the more mobile among us, walking, hiking, cycling, bird watching, kayaking, sailing, beach combing, jogging, and the like may qualify as pure recreation. These activities do meet the criteria set forth as pure recreation.
In my experiences with a team sport (football in high school and college), it helped me become successful in our competitive industrial/ business market place by showing me that winning is everything. Team sports rewarded players when we won and chastised us for losing. The coach insisted we assess out mistakes and improve so we can win next time. Worthy skills, yet sport teams are not pure recreation. Why? Because at times participants are left feeling unappreciated and/or dissatisfied with their performance, or, in some cases, unable to participate. Youth teams can be bad for children because their games are too often contaminated with irate parents protesting a coach's strategy.
At the completion of a pure recreation activity you should feel content, energized spiritually, and ready to resume other activities in life. If when you recreate you feel dissatisfied with yourself, switch to a pure recreation activity for awhile. The world at large can make you feel dissatisfied fast enough.
Finally, these thoughts are mine. Others may disagree with my definitions, examples, and claims. I offer them as a guide to help the reader understand how pure recreation may fresh one's life.
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