What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?
I’ve realised I don’t really have one kind of leisure. I have two—quiet rest and active rest—and I seem to need both.
Quiet rest is where my mind gets room to breathe. That’s mostly writing. Not writing to impress anyone, or to prove something, or to produce something “useful.” Writing as a kind of making. I enjoy outlining an idea the way you might sketch a landscape—painting with words, letting shape and tone do some of the work. I’m not trying to nail everything down or spell it out. I’m trying to create enough space for connection: for me first, and then—if I share it—for someone else. When it works, it feels creative: hinting, arranging, inviting.
Active rest is when my body leads and my mind follows. I’ve always enjoyed being active—physical work, a game, something strenuous enough to feel the honest satisfaction of effort. These days it mostly looks like walking. I try to get out every day for at least thirty minutes, but the longer the better. Somewhere along the way the internal noise drops a notch. My shoulders loosen. The world gets bigger than whatever was crowding my head.
And then there’s the place where both kinds of rest meet: near people or near trees. I love people and I love nature, so my best leisure time usually involves one or the other. A good conversation over coffee. A walk without no specific purpose or destination. If I end a day a little more open—more alive to what’s around me—I’ve had the right kind of leisure.
The Afterword 
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