The Charismatic and the Playful in Outdoor Recreation

Abstract

Striking parallels exist between the concepts charisma and play. Both refer to a quality or an orientation rather than a behavior or an activity. Both are seen as innate to humans, yet scarce because of lack of opportunity and lack of cultivation, as well as lack of talent or "genius." Charisma as well as play is related to vital processes and is transcendent, featuring the extra-ordinary. Charisma and play are contrasted with the routine and reject it. Separateness and segregation are inherent in charisma and play; yet both become routinized, stylized, institutionalized. The elaborate and complex nature of these concepts is illustrated by exam ining a study of wilderness-camping in which qualities of experience are expressed that can be derived from the ele ments of charisma and play. These qualities are more readily experienced by persons who are trained to experience them; most leisure-activities are not felt to be so moving or touching, and outdoor recreation as well as the rest of the activities which occupy us during our free time are not usually endowed with transcendent qualities.