REPORT – “Holidays are sacred”. So sacred that, if we are to believe the words of sociologist Olivier Cousin, they will also be subject to enforcement measures.
The holidays are approaching. You are shy. To leave walk In the Alps? Visiting friends down south? Want to sunbathe in Andalusia? After thinking, events unfold and you choose a completely different option: to do nothing. Nothing. Nada. Wallou. In a society where “making a success” of your vacation has become a mandate, it’s difficult to return to work without a thrilling tale, a remarkable anecdote, or an incredible story. So why do we put so much pressure on the holidays? Why do we (still) feel compelled to do as much as possible? We talk about this with Olivier Cousin, sociologist of labor and professor of sociology at the University of Bordeaux.
Also readFirst holiday as a couple: okay… or spoiled
LE FIGARO. – A word from history. Essentially, what is a holiday?
Olivier Cousin. – Spontaneously, I would say that this is a time when the individual is free to engage as he or she sees fit, rather than work time. But essentially these were days dedicated to God and prayer. Later, with the advent of industrial society, it turned into weekly compensatory rest, time to repair according to the effort expended at work. Then, starting from the second half of the 20th century, things changed again with the spread of paid leave and the reduction of weekly working hours. Workers thus benefit from more free time to occupy themselves, just like schoolchildren. Leisure activities, holiday destinations and holiday-related consumption are emerging. It has continued to develop since then.
Does the definition remain the same today?
Not exactly. Nowadays, there is also the idea that holidays are used to do things that we do not have time to do in our daily lives. Reading things that we don’t have time to read, doing crafts, doing sports, seeing our friends, etc. We will take advantage of this. Apart from this, paradoxically, we are very quickly reaching a new form of performance competition, just as we know it in business. The purpose of the holiday will be to make the most of our time by learning something, improving ourselves, protecting ourselves… It seems like we should never quit or relax. As if this time would be wasted without him.
Also readHow to preserve the benefits of vacation every day: tips from a psychologist
And is this the case? Is “doing nothing” on vacation a waste of time?
In the collective imagination. Doing nothing has been associated with sloppiness, laziness, waste of time, and boredom. If the answer to the question “What did you do on holiday?” is “nothing”, the conversation will definitely end… However, on the contrary, the phenomenon of “doing a lot of things” is quite valuable and is associated with success. Most of the time, there is some kind of build-up to holiday stories. When listing cities and museums, we say “I did this, I saw that”. It’s as if the most important thing in the story is to describe the amount of goods we consume rather than the pleasure we feel. not to mention photos published on social networks To spark his conversation…
So why do we put so much pressure on holidays?
On vacation there really is this idea that time is ours and we decide how we use it. If we use it “wrongly” or “differently from others” then we alienate ourselves. So we put some pressure on ourselves to “not miss our vacation”. This is some of the pressure put on themselves by couples in crisis who leave together in hopes of putting the pieces back together. If they devote all their time to rebuilding, but in a more idyllic environment than they know on a day-to-day basis, without any outside pressure from work or anything else, and if things don’t work out between them, ah… So they have the pressure that things are going well.
Does all this depend on social circles?
Certainly ! Depending on the social environment, we do not value the same things, we do not have the same expectations, we do not have the same requirements, we do not have the same degrees of hierarchy and, above all, we do not have the same tools… But in general, if there is a possibility of going on Holiday for everyone, there is a real opportunity to succeed. There is pressure. Being successful in life means being successful in your childhood, school life, love life, friendship life and also in your holidays!
Shouldn’t we dispel this myth and feel less guilty for doing nothing?
We can say that all this pressure has a ridiculous and alienating side, but forcing yourself to do nothing to escape the norm is, in a way, imposing a new norm on yourself…
