Vacation at Home – Part 3
The Flaneur
The flaneur – that
aimless stroller who loses himself in the crowd, who has no destination, and
goes wherever caprice or curiosity directs his steps. . . the flaneur is in
search of experience, not knowledge.” - The Flaneur, Edmund White
The
trick to being on vacation at home is to cultivate this flaneur consciousness
of finding things endlessly absorbing.
Learn how to loiter. Stay
curious! Stay alive! Keep it fresh! Follow your nose. What pulls you? Take the detours. Find the hidden gardens
off the alleys, peek inside the pretty backyard porches, climb the stairways
between the homes built in the ‘20s for hardy Berkeley walkers. Stop and take a
quick look at the dining room of a new restaurant, grab a menu, wander in the
neighborhood bookstore, delight in the flower arrangement outside of the
florist shop. . . life is endlessly wondrous!
Cultivate
the state of being purposeless . This
is vacation! This is a lighthearted
playfulness you can feel anywhere at any time.
Savoring the experience is a
fun, interesting way to be in the world.
Flaneur
consciousness works best when I create a general structure for the day. Studying maps and booklets and letting my
enthusiasm build is an important part of the process. But once I’m out there, I let go of the
structure and abandon myself to unfettered spontaneity and curiosity. Every
moment is an amazing opportunity to be present.
Be interactive with the environment, letting it reveal itself moment by
moment. Be interruptible. Don’t plan.
Let yourself be surprised. Let it open up like a wild, exotic flower
before you.
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His passion and
creed is to wed the crowd. . . to take up residence in whatever is seething,
moving, evanescent and infinite. - Baudelaire
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