The definition of a 'flâneur'
The term 'flâneur' is a French word that describes the act of sauntering, walking slowly at a leisurely pace while observing in a detached awareness what is around. You may find a 'flâneur' meandering in a crowded city or in the wilderness of the countryside, often without a specific goal, except absorbing intuitively the unfolding of time and one's own observations and thoughts. Not being bound by a time limit, and being ready to interact with arising opportunities at any given time is the character of the 'flâneur', which often implies that the person already has a way of life on the margin of society, free from work obligations, except his own. It is in the 19th century that the term became popular, and expressed more than a nonchalant stroll, but also the curiosity of discovering people and places in order to become the source of creativity. The great French poet 'Charles Baudelaire' is often quoted as being the first to present a new definition of the 'flâneur' by stating: ' To be away from home and yet to feel oneself everywhere at home; to see the world, to be at the centre of the world, and yet to remain hidden from the world' (*).
The word 'flâneur' is masculine, and when applied to a woman she is called a 'flâneuse'. To see oneself as such denotes already a state of mind that expresses independence of thoughts, creativity, with the spirit of discovery for new horizons as well as a rich empathy with the rest of the world through discreet observation.
If this definition resonates with you, you are on the right site, and what is offered may make you want to join other like-minded people to explore different places of the world as well as the internal map of your creative mind.
(*)Baudelaire C., The painter of Modern Life and Other Essays - Translated and edited by Jonathan Mayne, Phaidon Press.
The word 'flâneur' is masculine, and when applied to a woman she is called a 'flâneuse'. To see oneself as such denotes already a state of mind that expresses independence of thoughts, creativity, with the spirit of discovery for new horizons as well as a rich empathy with the rest of the world through discreet observation.
If this definition resonates with you, you are on the right site, and what is offered may make you want to join other like-minded people to explore different places of the world as well as the internal map of your creative mind.
(*)Baudelaire C., The painter of Modern Life and Other Essays - Translated and edited by Jonathan Mayne, Phaidon Press.