We can learn a few things from Greek myths.  Recall the flight of Icarus; a tale in which Icarus and his father were imprisoned on an island by a nefarious king.  Their goal was to escape via the air, since they had no hope of rescue otherwise. The father fashioned wings on their arms utilizing bird feathers, sticks and wax.  As they both took flight, the father warned Icarus to avoid the sea as its foam would wet down his wings.  He further advised against flying too high to avoid having the sun's heat melt his wing's wax.  Unfortunately, Icarus ignored his father and flew too close to the sun, which led to his death.

However, the father's advice is something we can all learn from. We need to be aware of balance. All work and no play can make us very stressed-out corrections professionals. While many of us perform with integrity and with an excellent work ethic, there is always the nagging fear of vocational burn out.

How many of us balance our work life with stress-relieving hobbies?  How many of us temper our off time with diversions so that we will not implode from the stress of work? 

Unfortunately, many of us believe that our jobs are our lives.  If we subscribe to such a philosophy, and if our jobs are stressful, our lives will be very nerve-racking.  Compound that with the fact that corrections is one of the most challenging and wearing professions imaginable. 

There is some simple advice to those who are intensely focused on their work; “Get a hobby!” 

When you think of it, work and outside interests have a symbiotic relationship.  A Yin and Yang paradigm truly exists when we consider our job and hobbies. Without work (and, of course, the income), we cannot afford to have as many pastimes.  As we acquire diversions, however, our job typically becomes less stressful.  Anxiety relieving amusements take the edge off of our sometimes cynical profession.  They facilitate in developing an attitude that may help us hate our jobs less (or even enjoy our jobs more). Hobbies and work should, ideally, exist in a balance that complements one another. Hobbies in moderation can help improve everyone's work life.

Here are five basic categories of helpful diversions: Physical, Tangible, Non-corrections, Familiar, and Charitable. 1

Physical - This is a part time, off work endeavor that involves some sort of physical exertion.  Examples include:

• playing horseshoes
  
  
• skiing
  
  
• swimming
  
  
• walking
  
  
• weightlifting
  
  
• snow shoeing
  
  
• running
  
  
• shopping
  
  
• bike riding
  
  
• playing organized sports 

These activities have been proven to naturally diminish apprehension and improve overall health. 

Tangible - This is any activity where we can see positive results.  In our occupation, we may become dismayed at times when it seems that we make no progress.  We manage people who oftentimes do not wish to be managed.  Because of this, it is difficult to point out any visible legacies of our labors.  Yet, actives where we can create finished products are both gratifying and stress-relieving.  Examples of this are: 

• wood working
  
  
• assembling plastic models
  
  
• genealogy
  
  
• building puzzles
  
  
• yard work
  
  
• writing
  
  
• knitting
  
  
• antique restoration
  
  
• collecting certain items

Hobbies like these demonstrate that we can actually produce something. Making things that we can easily display as an accomplishment is not usually possible in our job.  Perhaps this is the most important reason that we need this counterbalance against our jobs in corrections.

Non-corrections hobbies – Some of us simply refuse to leave our work inside the walls.  We do not always completely release prison from our outside lives. For example, we attend conferences directly linked to corrections.  And, in the interest of maintaining a link to work while outside of the job, some of us collect items related to corrections.  Perhaps interests such as television viewing are acceptable substitutes. But many of us are guilty of excessive viewing of A&E's American Justice or other similar shows. Some of us also delve into other law enforcement related actives.  Even if we enjoy job related pastimes, when we start to hate our jobs, we tend to dislike our job related hobbies.

This is not to suggest that corrections professionals should never have hobbies related to the job. However, job-related tension compounds if there is no release from the work day's pressures.  Corrections related hobbies tend to subliminally point to career pressures.  If we spend one-third of our adult lives working, we owe a bit of variety to ourselves.  Any of the above examples in the physical and tangible categories illustrate non-corrections hobbies. 

Familiar - This group includes actives with family or friends. In all of our professional obligations, the most important is to protect the public.  So, why not consider enjoying that part of the outside world, your own part of society?  Anything you do with your family and/or friends could be counted as entertainment.   Therefore, they can serve as great stress relievers. These activities also help us to build a perspective of balance between home and work life.

Charity - Giving back to the community is something that corrections personnel do every shift.  The public is safer with us on the job. Although it is part of our mission statement, it might not be too visible to us.  Outside work, there are many choices for volunteerism.  These can be found in charitable institutions, religious organizations and benevolent societies.  The Torch Run is an excellent example of a charity avocation. Coaching sports teams also is a good example of this.

Volunteering is a corrections stress reliever because the good work done can be measured.  It allows us to feel like a useful part of society. It also builds a bigger picture mentality.  This is a feel-good activity that can improve our individual sense of self-worth, which is particularly important in our occupation where we can sometimes feel ineffective as agents of positive change.

Can all of this be without pitfalls?  In corrections we are naturally suspicious.  So we should examine some of the potential problems we face when considering an avocation: 

• Some may not want to pull away for the corrections comfort zone.
  
  
• Others might admit to being weak if they had to find some ‘annoying diversion.'
  
  
• Still others may go overboard and let their hobbies overshadow their job.
  
  
• Sometimes, those wearing their avocation on their sleeve will place themselves in a position to be set-up. 

But the benefits outweigh the caveats.  When vocation and avocation are performed in balance, an employee can experience many seen and unseen benefits:

• We save money when we release stress through hobbies.  
  
  
•  Sick leave lowers. We become healthier and can work longer without being a drag to the medical system.
  
  
• Hypertension, one of America's silent killers,  is lessened. 
  
  
• Higher moral employees are ones that are vested in their jobs and will stay on the job longer, which mitigates turn-over.  This, in turn, lowers retention, recruitment and initial training costs.
  
  
• Less stress means better employee relations.  Fewer harassment charges may be filed. 
  
  
• Those with less stress can concentrate better and provide a safer environment for prisoners and staff.
  
  
• Safer institutions, through a series of events not happening, mean tax dollars saved.

The tale of Icarus comes to us from across the centuries with a simple but important message: we can learn much from moderation.  We need to take the middle path.  There is room in the life of any corrections professional for both fulfilling work and fulfilling hobbies.

So, with this in mind, when someone says, "Get a life. Get a hobby", you might want to take that advice.  Stress kills, especially in corrections.  But, this is one of those monsters that can be fought. 

1 Bouchard, Joseph. "Hobbies reduce corrections stress" The Corrections Professional 9.6 (2003): 3.
About the Author – Joseph Bouchard is a Librarian at Baraga Maximum Correctional Facility within the Michigan Department of Corrections.  He is also a member of the Board of Experts for The Corrections Professional  and an instructor of Corrections and Psychology for Gogebic Community College.  You can reach him at (906) 353-7070 ext 1321

These are the opinions of Joseph Bouchard, a Librarian employed with the Michigan Department of Corrections.  These are not necessarily the opinions of the MIDOC or Corrections.com.  The MIDOC is not responsible for the content or accuracy.