The role of leisure in meaning-making and engagement with life

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to identify and describe the role of leisure in meaningful engagement with life, informed by leisure and positive psychology literature on these topics. Specifically, the paper identifies the key elements or factors of leisure-induced meaningful engagement with life. In particular, the paper emphasizes the contributions of leisure pursuits to maintaining: (a) a joyful life, (b) a connected life, (c) a discovered life, (d) a composed life, and (e) an empowered life. Not only do these elements seem to represent distinct factors of meaningful engagement with life through leisure, but multiple meanings can be also gained from a single leisure-engagement experience, and these meaning themes can be interconnected. The role of leisure in meaning-making and engagement is important, considering unique distinct characteristics of leisure as freely chosen, self-determined/autonomous, and intrinsically motivated engagement.