由於都市化、工業化、大眾文化、機械文明、與資本主義商業化的衝擊，使得大多數的人們已經無法如同你我的先人一般，能夠在工作上面或是休閒當中獲得樂趣、意義、或價值。雖然我們的經濟發展與物質充裕的狀況已達到史無前例的程度，但是生活在此「富裕」社會中之你我個人的整體性與自主性卻已漸漸消失無蹤，而社會整體的生活素質也日益低落。本文嘗試著對我們生命中極爲重要的兩個層面，休間與工作，以及與其相關的種種概念和現象進行剖析，希望藉此或能增進我們對休閒與工作的認識，並對提昇你我生活素質有所啟示。因爲無論是工作品質或者是休閒品質，對於我們的生活素質都有莫大的影響；所以，若能夠改善我們的工作品質與休閒品質，必定會對於提昇我們的生活素質有極大的助益。同樣地，若能安頓好我們的工作與休閒生活，必當不難安頓好你我的生命。因此，筆者以爲我們除了必須自我反省，並將所集中在物質層面上的焦點移轉至精神層面上之外，還必須「自覺」，並主動積極地投入，而非消極、疏離性地參與，我們的工作與休閒；此外，更要讓自己的工作與休間具有內涵，並成爲充滿創發性的「活動」。如此，我們方能重新拾回失落的主體性、重新恢復精神上的獨立自主，而你我的生活品質也才可能真正地有所提昇。

Although the material affluence achieved by is at the present day has surpassed that of any period of our history, most people, however, have become more alienated than ever before. We seem to be less capable of attaining as much fun, meaning, or value from work and leisure as our ancestors did. We have failed to recognize that the good life or happiness is not and should not be measured by material affluence alone,In the effort to gear up for further economic growth, we are creating anew the problems that are responsible for our discontents, Clearly, our kind of "pursuit of happiness" does not produce happiness or well-being at all. In fact, if we are to make us live more fully, richly, and satisfying than we do now, we must work for what is essential instead of what is external to us. Since work and leisure are two important dimensions of our lives, both must be appreciated if we are to attain fulfillment and the good life. We must work more on the improvement of our spiritual well-being instead of on the frantic pursuit of the material affluence in order to enhance our experience of richness in living.