Load shedding
Load shedding has kicked in again. We were told that the
coal resorts got wet from the buckets amounts of rain. This resulted in us
having an interrupted day as we are in dire need of electricity for whatever we
do nowadays...
Whilst I was sitting there, waiting for the electricity
to come back, I all of a sudden realised how much time I spent sitting in front
of my laptop working. In the past couple of weeks we have been going at it non
stop. This can surely not be healthy as a fundamental concept of OT clearly
states that a BALANCED lifestyle leads to wellbeing.
I stumbled across this amazing piece of literature called
‘A proposed model of lifestyle balance’ which was written by K.M. Matuska and
C.H. Christiansen and talks about wellness being routines of existence which
are ‘sustainable, healthy and meaningful’ to individuals. These ‘routines of
existence’ should lead to providing the individual with basic needs, have
meaningful relationships with others that are self satisfactory, feeling that
one possesses the ability or capacity to successfully complete tasks, having
the opportunity to develop ones unique identity as well as being able to
arrange ones time in such a way as to achieve personal and purposeful goals. (K.M.
Matuska & C.H. Christamsen 2008, pg 11)
This made me think about how important our personal ‘out
time’ or ‘quiet time’ is! A more scientifically correct term would be leisure
time. Some leisure time should be build into our ‘routine of existence' to
create a more balanced life. My friend would call it ‘having a cup of tea’ or ‘stopping
along the way to smell the flowers’. In doing so we should be grateful for a new
day and the little things in life that we so often take for granted or
overlook. Today with no electricity I could spend some time marvelling at the nature around me and it was amazing what a calming effect this 'moment of silence' had on me.
Take a look at this clip....
Reference
Kathleen
M. Matuska & Charles H. Christiansen (2008) A proposed model of lifestyle
balance, Journal
of Occupational Science, 15:1,
9-19, DOI: 10.1080/14427591.2008.9686602
Lovely. Time out is not necessarily leisure time... it all depends on the kind of profession you have and whether it is intrinsically satisfying. Also, with the new classification system of the practice framework, spiritual activities fall into instrumental ADLs - which can be a very important 'time out'. Do you remember the concept of flow from second year leisure? People are inclined to experience more flow whilst working, than they would whilst engaged in leisure.
ReplyDeleteThat said, whatever we do, should be done whole-hardheartedly... and you have captured that.