"Instead of touching reality they respond to stereotypes" De Mello, pg. 99. Listening to your inner self and gaining awareness lets you lose the stereotypes and really begin to see what is around you. "Most people are so afraid to die that, from their efforts to avoid death, they never live" De Mello pg. 103. Living in the moment is a keystone of De Mello's view of spirituality. Live in the moment and have awareness of the moment. "After a saint has used a ladder, it is thrown away, never to be used again" De Mello, pg. 98. Follow your own path, not that of those before you. Create your own life. Do not fear life or death so much that you forget to live. De Mello believes that leisure is not collecting things or being materialistic. "We collect things because our hearts are empty" De Mello, pg. 96. De Mello defines leisure as quiet moments that give a person time to become acquainted with their heart, rather than trying to fill ones heart with things.
Based on class readings and my service learning, I have a much different view of spirituality and leisure. Spirituality is not religion. It is an awareness of ones inner self. The readings gave me a greater awareness of the fact that I chose to grow and not stagnate becoming embittered or wallow and be a person that needed constant care. "You can't force the heart" Shea, pg. 1. A person can't make themselves be more spiritual. It is not a checklist of items but a journey of reflection, and noticing ones inner self. Leisure is not just being busy, but an openness to experience life as it is. Idleness does not equal leisure. Leisure is a state of mind and being. Leisure is not the consumption of leisure goods and not just creative self-development it is a state of mind. .
At the beginning of class I did not equate spirituality and leisure together. They were two very separate ideas. But after all of the readings and my work with PADS, I see overlapping principles.