Enduring leisure involvement: the importance of personal relationships

Concepts of work and leisure are examined from an ontological perspective. Work is distinguished from labour; previous concepts of leisure are identified as being defined in terms of time, action-behaviour, specific-activity-in-a-specific-time/place-site (which is considered to define recreation), or experience. All of these suffer various problems, but in particular, all assume that work and leisure can and should be perceived as separate.

It is argued that work and leisure are both based upon the individual's efforts to optimize their relationship to their total environment (or specific elements of it), and both can best be considered as dimensions of experience. Some implications of this dimensional approach are then detailed.