Ostensibly, when we are at leisure, we do the things that are most natural and comfortable to us. We dispense of the pretentions that we wear in public. We shed the accoutrements that create the facade. In this way, we are free to be our true selves.

Ostensibly, when we are at leisure, we do the things that are most natural and comfortable to us. We dispense of the pretentions that we wear in public. We shed the accoutrements that create the facade. In this way, we are free to be our true selves.

Yes and no. Sure, with no work demands or chores, people will tend to behave more naturally and gravitate toward things they like, whether that's pizza and TV in bed, fishing, writing a novel, exercising, cooking, whatever. But just because you're feeling creative and industrious one day, doesn't mean you won't slob out the next day. You might binge Netflix for a week, then dress up and go out one evening. It's stupid and reductionist to think that any person is represented by one or two activities.

I would suggest that people reveal who they are in the way they react or treat others. Clapping at the end of a movie or plane landing (idiots). The way they treat waiters and other service staff. The state of their bathroom. Do they choose to follow current news. What kind of jokes do they laugh at / kind of comedy do they seek out (if no sense of humour - run away). Do they very occasionally give to respectful beggars or are they total rubes who might donate everything to a sad donkey. Do they insist that expensive brands are automatically better. Is there even a hint of difference in the way they treat other races or backgrounds. Are they kind to animals. Do they still hold kindergarten level phobias of vegetables and grown-up foods. Any uncontrollable tics or noises (adorable now, but motive when you later appear in court for strangling them in their sleep). How do they treat and behave with their families. Are they secretive. Are they optimistic.

And so on.

How you do anything is how you do everything” so not only do you show who you are in your leisure, but also in your work, in how you treat people “beneath you” or “above you”. You are constantly showing who you are because it is who you are. But that doesn’t mean you can’t change who you are. The only thing you truly have control of is how you react to situations.