title: Being, Becoming and Belonging: The Phenomenological Essence of Spiritual Leisure Experiences
Creators: name: Schmidt, Christopher Michael
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Spiritual leisure experiences
subject: experiencing self
subject: time and space for self
subject: being
subject: becoming
subject: belonging

description: This study reports on an investigation into individuals’ experiences of spiritual leisure. Though there is a range of literature and research that examines the independent concepts of leisure and spirituality, there continues to be a lack of empirical research into the existence and experience of leisure that may be spiritual. Given that both traditional and ongoing understandings of leisure emphasise their impact on the whole of the person, this lack of attention to the spiritual dimension creates a gap in our understanding. Leisure is increasingly seen as having a role to play in human well-being. What is less well known is the role and place of spirituality in that interplay. It is recognised that a sense of spirituality can be accessed in a diversity of ways, through, for example prayer, meditation and an engagement with sacred places. The spiritual forum of leisure however, remains less acknowledged and understood despite the fact that spiritual benefits have been identified as part of leisure participation. The purpose of this study was to develop insight into the existence and nature of this relationship by exploring the phenomenon of spiritual leisure experiences. As a primary research focus, this topic is rarely directly considered. Rather it is most often raised as an anecdotal benefit of leisure, a philosophical potential for leisure, or more recently, a component of people’s spiritual and general well-being. Based on personal interest, informed by intuition and grounded in the theoretical and philosophical concepts of leisure and spirituality, this study sought to fill some gaps in our understandings of spiritual leisure experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, this descriptive, qualitative study aimed to explore the subjective meanings individuals give to experiences they refer to as spiritual leisure. Thus, 24 co-researchers were invited to share their self-defined spiritual leisure experiences, through open, unstructured interviews and reflective journaling. The leisure experiences the co-researchers described as spiritual occurred within various locations and involved multiple contexts. These included social and solo experiences, nature based or urban environments and active or passive pursuits. Reflective of what happened, the descriptions of the co-researchers revealed that spiritual leisure experiences could vary in situation, conditions, activity and contexts. The meanings behind these descriptions were also sought and three groupings of common themes were recognised: namely triggers; responses and outcomes. These structural components of spiritual leisure were interrelated in the co-researchers conscious understandings and represented a suite of feelings, thoughts, sensations and meanings embedded in the context, actions and locations of their leisure. Finally, the research included an exploration of the underlying essences of the experiences. Five interrelated essences of spiritual leisure emerged representing the phenomenon of spiritual leisure. These were: experiencing self; time and space for self; being; becoming; and belonging. Overall, the results demonstrated that experiences of leisure that were spiritual were evident for the 24 co-researchers. The experience of spiritual leisure was understood as an event that was lived physically, emotionally and affectively and while it varied in context it also shared the characteristics of providing a forum for knowing, being and becoming more of the self. In spiritual leisure, individuals found a life-space in which to discover and know aspects of themselves and to feel a sense of belonging. This study clearly identifies leisure as a valuable and edifying aspect of some people’s lives in relation to developing their spiritual self or for experiencing their spirituality. The essential themes remind us of the true potential leisure can have in people’s lives. More broadly, the study acknowledges the nature of spiritual leisure, its structural components and the value of studying the phenomenon from the perspective of the experiencing person.