The Importance of Otium in Rest and Fulfillment

The best way to rest is by engaging in activities that bring joy and fulfillment, known as "otium," which can lead to personal growth and happiness.

### Discovering Otium: The Art of True Rest and Self-Discovery
* 😴 "The worst kind of rest is when you force yourself to do things you don't even want to do during your break, which actually **consumes more mental energy**."
* 🌳 The best way to take a break is by **doing what you want to do** and **taking pleasure in that activity itself**.
* ⚖ Good rest requires a balance of using different organs and **playful rest that brings joy**.
* 🎈 Real rest like playing is being **happy while engaging in activities that bring joy to the soul**.
* 🪑 Optimum is an active leisure activity that you need to **learn and deepen**, continuously filled with the **joy of learning**.
* 🌱 Many people who actively engage in Optium mention an **increased ability to focus on themselves**, **enhanced self-esteem**, and **regaining the presentness of life**.
* 🦋 Otium has a positive chain effect, triggering **growth and vitality** in various aspects of life.

Hello, I am the author of Otium, psychiatrist Moon Yo-han. The worst kind of rest is when you force yourself to do things you don't even want to do during your break, which actually consumes more mental energy. In other words, even though I really don't like running and it's not suitable for me, thinking that it's good, I force myself to run or even meditate, which doesn't really suit me. When people say it's good to meditate during rest, sitting for a long time meditating becomes a different kind of stress for me. It turns out that not even doing anything for rest is better than that. The next better kind of rest is literally resting. Doing nothing is a slightly better form of rest.

Just taking a break doesn't mean you're not using energy, and it's not like your energy is being recharged. So, what is the best way to take a break? In fact, the best way to take a break is doing what you want to do. Taking pleasure in that activity itself can be considered a really good break. There is a Chinese character for rest, consisting of the character for leaning against a tree and standing. So, if resting is about leaning against a tree and taking a break in the shade without doing anything, then the character for breathing is made up of 'self,' 'mouth,' and 'heart.' It means coming back to oneself. It's not about forcing yourself to do something you don't want to do, just following orders. It's about coming back to yourself, doing what makes you happy and what you like.

Engaging in joyful activities.
It's like breathing for me now. While pauses and rests are necessary,
in reality, what's needed is filling. So, I think true relaxation involves
both rest and fulfillment. When I say that,
there are a couple of conditions that are needed. The first is that good rest
needs to have a good balance. If an organ is used too much,
it's better to take a break during rest, and using organs that are not used much
is actually about achieving this balance. For example, if someone is used to
sitting at the office every day and using their brain a lot, during rest, instead of using the brain, it's better to move the body a bit.
For instance, engaging in activities like exercising or dancing
is necessary for a more active type of rest. The second is playful rest.
Why are children happy when they play?

It's because of enjoying oneself. However, adults, in fact, cannot play, so they always feel the need for some kind of reward or result and do something because of some responsibility or duty, which leads to continuous depletion and unhappiness in life. That's why real good rest is like playing. Rest like playing means that the activity itself brings us joy. So, for example, as I mentioned earlier about running, for some people, running is really hard and stressful, just receiving stress, and when they step on the scale and see their weight decreasing, feeling extremely happy, that is not actually rest like playing. However, real rest like playing is being happy while running. But there are many things like that. For some, it could be playing a musical instrument, and for some, it could be leather crafting.

It could be a knitting day, and doing volunteer work in a forest itself brings a lot of joy. So, there is a term in Latin that refers to actively engaging in activities that bring joy to the soul. It's called 'otium,' which is a very important element in adult happiness. It must have been around 2013. I was running a psychiatric clinic specializing in counseling at that time, and a working professional came in. However, this person was under pressure to retire from work and is in a situation where they cannot quit because of their children. So, they are forcing themselves to endure and go to work, but even at work, there is no team support and they are not given proper work tasks. As a result, this person was constantly feeling a deep sense of despair and a desire to die as much as they wanted.

The first thing you said when you came was, Please help me endure. It's really hard to endure day by day. You said something like that. But I had counseling with that person, and we not only had counseling but also tried some medication because there wasn't much change happening through counseling alone. Even after one or two months of counseling and medication, there wasn't any significant change. The situation itself was very difficult, so I was struggling as well. I was hoping for some change for that person, but despite counseling and medication, there wasn't any noticeable effect. So, I sensed a feeling of disappointment in that person because there was no improvement. Eventually, one day, that person canceled the appointment and didn't come anymore. I actually forgot about that person, but around 8 months later, I coincidentally met that person at a different event. However, the expression on that person's face was...

It's very different now.
Your expression has brightened up now. So, at that moment, I was very curious.
What on earth happened during that time? So, I talked to that person a bit,
and since they felt like counseling wasn't really effective,
they stopped it and started taking walks around the neighborhood a lot,
and by chance, they started thinking about their childhood.
Why is my life so difficult?
When was I ever happy in my life? While pondering these thoughts, they realized that the happiest time for them
was when they were in the early grades of elementary school. So, when they thought about why they were happy, they remembered that their house was near a carpentry shop, and at that carpentry shop, waste materials were being discarded,
and those waste materials were always piled up next to the carpentry shop,
which was actually the playground for the neighborhood kids.

So, they made guns and knives out of waste materials, and now, spending a whole day together without even realizing the sunset, playing around. Do you remember that? For this person, it was a very happy memory. Ah, I was truly happy back then... After realizing that, where did this person go? They went to learn woodworking. Touching the wood, creating something, that feeling was so nice that they ended up learning woodworking to make furniture. So, spending a day a week, on Saturdays, from morning to evening, continuously in the woodworking shop, they spent time there. But during that time, they completely forgot about work, forgot about any personal issues, and immersed themselves entirely in it, getting lost in the feeling of the wood and the touch of their hands. So, for this person, it was like a breathing hole, a place where they could breathe.

So, even though it's tough for five days a week for a week, if you spend a whole day in the workshop, it becomes a kind of breathing hole. It's like a pillar that can support life a bit more. So, to that person, the woodworking job was actually an optimum, and I think it was a breakthrough in life. Optimum is not just a leisure activity that is sluggish now, but it can be called a leisure activity that you need to learn and deliberately take the time to deepen, even making efforts. So, I think it can be considered a leisure activity with a certain level of difficulty. Therefore, real optimum is always filled with the joys of learning, so instead of stopping after doing a little, we can continue to deepen our own optimum.

While writing a book called Otium, I met a lot of people. So, I was very curious about how the lives of those who actively engage in leisure activities changed before and after meeting Otium. Therefore, I started asking many people about these changes. Many people talk about being able to focus on themselves a lot more. So, before, they used to pay a lot of attention to what others think or seek recognition from others for their abilities. They say that after meeting Otium, they have gained a stronger ability to focus on themselves.

Should I say self-esteem, or pride? You talk about how your self-esteem has increased significantly. This is because Optium itself involves engaging in deep leisure activities, so I feel like I am continuously growing through Optium. And it's not for any reward or outcome, but to feel a pure joy within myself. By doing Optium, I feel like I am a good person, and others start to feel these kinds of feelings too. Lastly, many people say they have regained the presentness of life. They can be happy now, and that focus itself also has a ripple effect at work. In the past, they used to get lost in distracting thoughts a lot and had a hard time concentrating, but after meeting Optium, their ability to focus on the present has increased.

It's commonly heard a lot. Next, what's important now is to distinguish between otium and addiction. Some people say they engage in hobbies, gather to fish or exercise, but end up neglecting their families and spending time alone with their hobbies. As a result, their relationships with their families may deteriorate, or they may not be able to focus properly on work because they are absorbed in hobbies such as managing certain hobbies or being captivated by them. If someone says they can't do their work properly because they are so absorbed in hobbies, it is indeed necessary to doubt whether it is otium. Therefore, a clear distinction between otium and addiction is needed. Otium has a positive chain effect. In other words, 'otium' not only brings us joy through the activity itself but also triggers a positive chain effect, like a butterfly effect.

Whether it's in relationships or other areas of life, what now gives vitality is the optimum, on the contrary, addiction only provides pleasure in the activity itself, causing negligence in other things or relationships, leading to many problems. So, what I emphasize now is whether there is a positive chain effect or not, which I think is an important distinction between optimum and addiction. In fact, it seems like there are more times in life when things don't go as planned than when they do, right? Relationships are the same. Human relationships are not always great because they don't always align with our feelings. However, in those times, we need to comfort ourselves, regain strength, and continue living. When we encounter active leisure activities like the optimum, it comforts our lives, makes us feel happy in the present moment,

And I think it can be a stepping stone that leads to growth in life because I can experience experiences that deepen me more. I hope you all have the opportunity to encounter such proactive leisure activities that make your soul happy.

(Kor, Jp)내 삶에 활력을 주는 '진짜 휴식'을 가지려면 | 문요한 정신건강의학과 전문의, '오티움' 저자 | 취미 여가 스트레스 | ask and learn

더 좋은 세상을 위한 지식과 경험, 그리고 아이디어를 15분 강연 스토리로 나눕니다. 
'구독'을 누르시면 새 강연 영상 소식을 가장 빠르게 받을 수 있습니다.
더 길고 깊은 강의 콘텐츠는 '세바시랜드'에서 만나보세요.
구글 플레이 스토어나 앱스토어에서 세바시랜드 다운로드 받으시고 회원가입하세요. 세바시 배움 모임에 참여해보세요. 인생의 변화가 시작됩니다. 

세바시 강연 Sebasi Talk

The Art of Rest: Finding the Perfect Balance

Forced activities during rest can be more draining, while true relaxation comes from doing what you enjoy.

Good rest involves a balance of using different organs and engaging in playful activities, like exercise or dancing, to switch things up.

Playful rest, similar to how children play, is essential for a truly rejuvenating break.

The Importance of "Otium" for Adult Happiness

"Otium" is the Latin term for actively engaging in joyful activities, which is crucial for adult happiness.

The story of a working professional struggling with the pressure to retire and the lack of fulfillment at work highlights the impact of not having "otium" in one's life.

Despite counseling and medication, the person's situation didn't improve until they found activities that brought them joy and fulfillment.

A person's life took a positive turn when they rediscovered the happiness of their childhood through woodworking.

This leisure activity became a crucial outlet for them, providing a much-needed breathing space and ultimately becoming a life-changing pursuit.

Woodworking evolved from a simple pastime to a significant and joyful learning experience, offering a new perspective on what true leisure and fulfillment mean.

The Impact of Otium on Personal Growth and Well-being

Meeting Otium has led people to focus more on themselves and increase their self-esteem.

Engaging in deep leisure activities like Otium has helped them find pure joy and feel like better individuals.

Otium has also helped people regain a sense of presence in their lives and improved their ability to focus, leading to a positive ripple effect on their work.

It's important to distinguish between Otium and addiction, as the latter can have detrimental effects on family and work life.

Otium not only brings joy but also triggers a positive chain effect in people's lives.

The Importance of Proactive Leisure Activities

Proactive leisure activities provide comfort and happiness in the present moment, offering a positive chain effect in life.

Unlike addiction, they serve as a stepping stone for personal growth and deepening of experiences.

In times when things don't go as planned, these activities can help individuals regain strength and continue living a fulfilling life.