Drake Duda Capstone Project 1

As a part of the RPTM 120 Leisure/Human Behavior class, we participated in the

Capstone Project. The project focused on defining leisure, mostly on the personal level. It also

focused on comparing different people’s definitions of leisure. I chose Tom Parker as my

interviewee. He is the Executive Director at Camp Fitch YMCA, and seeing as RPTM focuses

on non-profit organizations, I figured getting his opinion on the subject of leisure would be very

insightful.

As stated before, I interviewed the Executive Director of Camp Fitch YMCA. The first

question that was asked was what leisure meant to him. He believes that leisure is the balance

between work and his goals. He also believes that each person finds a different way to bring

balance. He stated that there are activities some would call leisure, while others would consider

that same activity stressful. An example he gave was golf. He explained that he enjoys playing

golf, but it does not accomplish the goal of leisure because he is very stressed when he plays. He

said that leisure is dependent on how it makes you feel, and that he enjoys golf, but he is stressed

whenever he participates.

Another question that was asked was what role leisure played in his life. He went on to

say that leisure is his balance, or his “equilibrium”. He said that stress is okay, and sometimes a

good thing, as long as there is balance. He stated that he struggles with finding the balance, and

oftentimes feels as though he has too much stress and not enough leisure in his life. When asked

what role leisure played in his relationships with other people, his answer was that leisure is an

excellent way to find a common. When asked to elaborate, he explained that when he is

participating in leisure activities with other people, he doesn’t need conversation because the

activity occupies the space conversation fills. He gave an example of hiking with his kids. He
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said that when he hikes with his kids, they have long periods of silence, with occasional bursts of

conversation.

I went on to ask Tom about what restrictions he faces in terms of leisure. He responded

with time and access. He said that he has found with work he does not have enough time to

pursue some of the leisure he would like, but hopes retirement could help that in the future. He

also said that if he had immediate access to the leisure pursuits, then time might not be as big of

an issue. I asked what leisure activities he wished he could pursue, and he told me he would like

to fly fish in the Florida Keys.

Finally, I asked if there was anything else he wished to share with me. He offered a bit of

advice to me as I grew into my career: “Don’t let work dominate your life. At camp, [where we

work together] we have a nice balance between work and leisure”.

I believe Tom and I have very similar opinions when it comes to leisure. We even have

similar leisure pursuits. I believe that leisure is about balance as well. To me, leisure gives

meaning to the work we do. Without it, we have no purpose. I also believe that sometimes leisure

isn’t always clearly defined as one activity. Sometimes, leisure is doing nothing. Like Tom, I

also believe there is a need for stress as well. If there was only good, happy emotions and no bad

ones, then the good wouldn’t mean anything.

However, I believe that Tom left out a number of restraints to someone’s leisure. He

made it seem as though leisure activities were almost always accessible, apart from time and

location. However, we learned that there are a number of restraints to our leisure. For example, it

might not be so easy finding people to participate in the activities with. There are also internal,

intrapersonal restraints the might restrict how we pursue our leisure. Finally, there are structural
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constraints. I struggle with these ones the most. Perhaps I can find time to pursue a leisure

activity, but I cannot afford to, or some responsibility comes up that makes going impossible.

There are many things that can affect how we participate in leisure activities.

What surprised me about Tom’s leisure pursuits is that none of the leisure pursuits he

mentioned seemed to be serious or project-based leisure. He seemed to be only participating in

casual leisure. I figured someone like Tom would be pursuing more serious leisure activities.

Perhaps it’s because his career is so project-based, it would make sense to not pursue project-

based or serious leisure considering his view of balance with leisure.

Tom was an excellent interviewee, and it was a privilege to gather his insight on what

leisure is. I was able to gain a deeper understanding of what leisure is, and his responses to my

questions made me consider what I think of as leisure. Tom and I both believe that leisure is best

defined as balance between our work and our goals. We also both believe that stress is necessary

in order for leisure to have meaning. We even had very similar leisure pursuits. However, I

believe that there are many more in-depth reasons someone might not be able to participate in

leisure. In conclusion, it was a privilege to speak with Tom, and I believe I have a better

understanding of leisure now that I have done this assignment.