"Leisure" as we think of it these days, is more like an invented state that we are expected to partake of as an antidote to our "jobs" which are usually removed from our place of residence.

Squeers - your mum is an example of someone who's work is part of her everyday world. Before industrialisation, most people "worked" like that...it wasn't separate from the rest of their existence as it is now.
Whole industries have sprung up to provide "holidays" and "leisure experiences" starting with Butlins holdiday camps to the the modern cruise ship industry. It's as if it's because we now have the means to arrange "entertainment" that we have forgotten how to entertain ourselves. Same with our kids who now have to be organised to within an inch of their lives or we assume we're not being good parents.

It seems to me that simplifying one's life and taking the simple pleasures as they arise is perhaps the best way to get the most out of living.

Most of the men on here aren't grumpy, it's just some are more proliferate.

The fact is despite the grumpiness and complaining online, it is really easy to avoid all that vexes thee (whether it is government intervention, greed, materialism etc) in real life. In Australia it is just about possible to live according to your own values as much as you are able.

While it is good to aspire to improvements, things don't always go our way, so while aspiration is okay it is also important to remain grounded, happy and realistic.

It is not too difficult to ignore those bits of life that rankle and life is really pretty simple if you let it be - and that is something coming from someone who tends to let passion run away at times.

I think that is right anyway, maybe not, I used to be decisive but now I am not so sure. ;)

Very true squeers about expectations of life.

Everything is a product, and everything MUST be entertaining. Kids cannot be expected to learn unless it's entertaining for them. It used to be that some things were dull and difficult. Not any more. You must engage with entertainment.Everything must be fun. Jobs are now careers that must be rewarding. Rewarding? I do xyz, you give me money. Enough! This attitude never goes down well in performance reviews.

I often used to say when I was a vagabond (Collecting experiences, as you say, from 50 countries in a matter of 5 years no less) that possessions end up owning you. You buy a car for example, it wants petrol, servicing, rego, insurance, you have to lock it, you have to protect your investment. You are obligated to look after something. Well you don't have to I suppose but the more things you own, there are more things to do. Like cleaning a house with 3 bathrooms.

I think also that housework increases to fill up time. If a woman is working, she somehow has a presentable house doing say 5 hours housework a week. But if she had more time, I bet another 10 hours of housework would be done. I mean she wouldn't want antiseptic to think she'd been sitting on her bum all day.

The ultimate thing though, is that shopping, the act of buying IS a leisure activity in itself for some. Window shopping used to be what people did, to dream, to enjoy the shiny, and then they went home. But now they have Harvey Norman buy now and pay later and credit cards. They can consumate the love right there and then.

'Mine do soccer, music, dance and that keeps me broke. '
When I was a young lad, we used to sing and dance around the piano (music) and play football with the neighbourhood kids. Well I honestly did play football but am too young for the piano stuff, but I believe it did happen.

'"Leisure" as we think of it these days, is more like an invented state that we are expected to partake of as an antidote to our "jobs" which are usually removed from our place of residence.....Before industrialisation, most people "worked" like that...it wasn't separate from the rest of their existence as it is now.'

That's funny Poirot, when DIY and cooking are considered leisure activities. Men want to do physical labour and women want to bake stuff. Is it just nostalgia? I think the sense of achievement is higher in these modes of work, hence the holidays needed from the mind-numbing, intangible 'achievements' of most office work.

'grounded, happy and realistic'
I think you have self-esteem problems pelican. You can do anything! Yes you can! You are special. Gifted.

And I am a grumpy old man BTW. Though I haven't even reached 40, I have enjoyed terminal cynicism as long as I can remember. Some people are a 'people person' whatever that means, me, well, I hate people. There are individuals I like, but generally people are idiots.

I like that Idler Poirot. Have you ever seen the movie Idiocracy?

'It seems to me that simplifying one's life and taking the simple pleasures as they arise is perhaps the best way to get the most out of living.'

Like The Dude in The Big Lebowski!

Pelican:"it is really easy to avoid all that vexes thee"

Oh, would it were so!

Squeers,

Your earlier comment on OLO being "too dry" for the ladies got me thinking.

Too much reality?

On the contrary, maybe there's not enough reality on a forum like OLO. Perhaps the "dry" is a form of desiccation or devitalisation. Because the rhetoric I was reading from the "ladies" during those discussions was resonant with vitality and passion.

Perhaps that's what impressed me - because I'm quite conservative in my own presentation. It would also explain why a woman like me inhabits OLO and why those others don't.