Purposeful Activity

“The Lucky Renew Their Energy Through The Activity in Which They’re Engaged.” -Max Gunther

Purposeful activity not only brings me immediate gratification and instant joy, but it also brings me the added bonus of fringe benefits.

But, what is purposeful activity and what does it mean to me?  Think of purposeful activity as a hobby that’s fun to do but also has perquisites.  For example, sewing requires one to thread needles, pick-up pins, cut with scissors, and bind hems, all of which incidentally improve fine motor skills.

In the image above, I not only experience the joy of calligraphy, but I also gain eye-hand skills from using the brush.  These added dexterity skills will carry over into other areas of my life for later use when I need to write letters, type, use tools around the house, or manipulate utensils for cooking, just to name a few.

The skills I gain from doing purposeful activity right now will spill over to improve other areas of my life.  Again, when I engage in purposeful activity now, I also gain the skills needed later on in life to better perform activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing, hygiene, and homemaking.

Purposeful activity gives me an opportunity to hone skill sets needed in the real-world.  As John Adams, 2nd President of the United States said, “Practice makes perfect.”  And purposeful activities are a great way for me to practice components of skill-sets that I’ll need for even bigger accomplishments down the road.

Here are a few examples of purposeful activity:

Gold leaf plating is a purposeful activity that’s not only enjoyable, but also allows me to exercise my finger and hand muscles to alleviate stiffness and gain mobility.

Stenciling is a purposeful activity that’s fun and likewise offers practice in spatial awareness, fine motor coordination, and eye-hand pairing skills.  All skill-sets I’ll need to prepare meals, get dressed, and read a book, just to name some.

For me, purposeful activity is the practice I need on the playing field to win the victory on gameday. Occupy yourself with doing what you love.

To me, OT’s help people engage in occupations as a means and simple joy of being so engaged and absorbed in an activity, that one feels a sense of flow and gets lost in the process. To occupy yourself doing what you love can be a healing process. Gillen says, it’s when an activity is interesting to the individual that they can achieve “just the right challenge” to bring about a desired goal (2019, p. 418). So, when you enjoy the activity, you are more likely to go the distance and accept the challenge.

For further ideas, inspiration, and insight into Purposeful Activity, please revisit my site to view my upcoming blog posts tagged with the key words, “Purposeful Activity.”

Gillen, G. (2019). Occupational Therapy Interventions for Individuals. In B. Schell, & G. Gillen (Eds.), Willard and  Spackman’s occupational therapy (13th ed., pp. 413-435). Wolters Kluwer.