“If We’re Lost, we Are Lost Together”: Leisure and Relationality

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on a sense of freedoms lost with the emergence of regulatory practices aimed at reducing the spread of the virus. This loss has likely impacted experiences of leisure, particularly in western societies where the perception of freedom is a significant indicator of leisure. The article explores the significance of relationality and leisure from a decolonizing perspective. Building upon observations of the author’s experiences during the pandemic, the article will drawn upon relational ontology, the centrality of relationship, and connection with self, family, and other entities of life.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• Decolonization
• leisure
• relational ontology
• relationality
• perceived freedom

Acknowledgments

A special thank you to the reviewer for your insightful, supportive, and encouraging feedback. Immense and heartfelt gratitude to Maxine and Clearlight, for your infinite wisdom and the gentle impact you’ve had on my life and subsequently, this article.

Notes

1 All headings in this article are lyrics from the song Lost Together, written by Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy from the band Blue Rodeo (1992).

2 Manuelito is Dine (Southwestern USA).

3 While dominant western perspectives of leisure are inherently male, several feminist leisure scholars have challenged these perspectives and put forth alternative conceptualizations (see Henderson & Shaw, 2006; Parry, 2018; Parry & Fullagar, 2013).

4 Bear is Blackfoot (Alberta, Canada).