I've started a new routine of strolling along the river in the Bosque near my Downtown Albuquerque home in the mornings. While I would like to say my motivation is a deep appreciation of nature, I have to confess what got me to lace up my shoes was reading the advice I would burn off more calories if walked before eating breakfast. This appealed to my inner sloth.
I've never been into competitive sports, other than racing a sail boat, the ingenuity being I could skipper while staying comfortably seated in the back.
With the need to get more movement in my life, I've discovered the lost art of being a flaneur. Described in the 1800s as equal parts curiosity and laziness, it was a leisurely way to become an urban spectator of boulevards, parks, arcades, and cafes. Perfected in Paris, it was a philosophical cousin to the development of the dandy, minus the fancy clothes.
On my first couple of outings, I spent most of my stroll scrolling through my phone to check messages. When I returned home I didn't feel particularly refreshed. I've since learned to pay attention. The walk is an hour long meditation of footsteps.
We don't have an English translation for the French word flanerie. It remains a foreign concept. I recently read an advice column which posed the question-- What would you do if you came across a windfall? What if you were gifted with a large amount of unexpected money? How would you spend it?
The article went on to lecture the reader that wealth should be invested, not wasted on frivolous pursuits. As an example, the author stated using a home equity loan was better utilized for a kitchen remodel than blowing the money on a month-long vacation. Upgrading a home's kitchen and bathrooms was an investment in real estate.
How very American! We are taught from a young age to be small-minded about the rest of the world. We value the shiny new toilet. Never mind that unless the house is about to be sold, the kitchen and bath upgrades will soon be outdated. How does anyone calculate the value of a month of sabbatical? What if it saves the marriage of a decades married couple? Getting divorced is more costly in the long run than a great vacation.
We've lost any concept of leisure. Of how wasting time can broaden horizons. We are so busy doing we stop seeing the world around us.
During my jaunts in early May along the Bosque I am watching spring unfold. The geese are tending new babies, wild roses are blooming along the water, beavers are busy gnawing down trees, ducks strike off in pairs, the occasional rabbit crosses my dirt path, while song birds gather at the south end of the ponds.
The world changes a bit each day.
