Flâneur (French: [flɑnœʁ]) is a type of urban male “stroller”, “lounger”, “saunterer”, or “loafer”. This French term was popularized in the 19th century and has some nuanced additional meanings (including as a loanword into various languages, including English). Traditionally depicted as male, a flâneur is an ambivalent figure of urban affluence and modernity, representing the ability to wander detached from society, for an entertainment from the observation of the urban life. Flânerie is the act of strolling, with all of its accompanying associations. A near-synonym of the noun is boulevardier
Couple of weeks ago, my wife and I wanted to go on a hike, but we woke up late and were worried that it would become very hot. We decided instead to go for a walk in the neighborhood. We had an errand to run and the strip mall that we needed to go to was about a mile and half. We usually do a round trip walk to this mall in an hour. It has always been a purposeful walk. Go to the mall and turn around. This time around we did something different(ly).
I mentioned it to Jaya that we always talked about living abroad (in Europe, mostly) in a small village. One of the things we wanted to do was on a lazy weekend walk to the village center, settle down at a cafe and watch the world go by, while enjoying our coffee and perhaps a croissant. She then suggests that we do exactly the same. We will go on a leisurely walk taking a longer route, albeit a scenic one. We will then stop at the coffee place after completing our errand and watch the world go by, as we always wanted to do, on our dream vacation.
Thus, we embarked upon an “aimless” walk with purpose. The purpose is not to have a purpose for the walk. Indulge in Flânerie in its spirit at the least. We decided not to pick a route and decide the route as we went along. That day turned out to be a mild day and the apricity of tail end of winter was a fantastic compensation for the loss of pulchritude and the soothing susurrations of wooded trail we normally hike.
Weather was mild, we were in NO rush, and it was a walk meandering through the neighborhood. Once decided that we are NOT going to time our walk and just enjoy the feeling of hygge that comes when you and your companion are having a persiflage and all seems to be ok with the world. We took as long as we normally take to make the round trip and reached that neighborhood strip mall. Completed the errand (of dropping some papers at our tax preparer) and headed to the coffee place. With a cappuccino in our hand and the banana walnut bread as an indulgence, not that cappuccino is not an indulgence, settled down to enjoy the world go by.
It was such a pleasurable stroll that we decided to backtrack the same scenic route and guess what!!! We seemed to have more topics to indulge in our chinwag and by the time we came back, it took us about two hours plus, more than twice our typical walk as an exercise. It was as if we found an antidote to a psychosomatic condition. I apologize profusely in advance if the readers feel I am trivializing ailments due to psychosomatic conditions. Far from it, I hasten to add.
That walk and the euphoria, however fugacious it was, made me to ponder about my conditioning to be always on the proverbial go. It was the exuberance of my youth and the ellipsism of my current age are both making me to involve in as many adventures as I can, and in the process am I not stopping and smell the roses?
There is one practice that that I have been indulging in, though. Since I am a night owl, I do tend to go to bed way past the midnight. I do often wake up and then go back to sleep. Sometimes my day does not start before 10 AM. I do not either suffer from dysania or have clinomania. To my credit, if I may say so, I do luxuriate in hurkle-durkle.
Hurkle-durkle: Is a Scottish term, that means to lounge in bed or relax when one should be up. It is now celebrated as a form of self-care. Hurkledurkle (noun) and hurkledurkling (verb), refer to lying in bed or lounging about when you should be active, often lingering under the covers for comfort and warmth. It is not merely laziness; modern interpretations frame it as intentional rest or selfcare, a gentle rebellion against the pressures of productivity and hustle culture.
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