Spontaneity for the Non-spontaneous

"Paysage de neige," Cuno Amiet

Scheduling can be great. Scheduling can allow you to get a paper in, call your mother, meet a friend for coffee, and get to Bon Marché before it closes. Let it be said, though, that scheduling can also provide you with a permanent sense of obligation and productivity that dulls the senses and kills creativity. I have never been so aware of this as in Paris.

Although I intentionally took things slowly at the beginning of the semester, about halfway through, I went into overdrive. “I need to speak French more of the time! I need to see more art! Oh my god, I haven’t bought a single piece of clothing in Paris!” It didn’t help matters that I had a string of guests, which upped the number of cultural activities and tightened time constraints.

Needless to say, I wore myself out. I got sick and holed up in my apartment for the requisite period, and as I began to re-enter the world, I acquired a wonderful new habit: doing things on a whim. I think this is what Dana was talking about in her post about “Le Flâneur,” because essentially, a whim-driven lifestyle is what defines a flâneur. I don’t know, in retrospect, if I could have adopted the flâneur mentality just from reading a book; perhaps I had to arrive at it out of necessity.

Lately, I find myself a bit noncommittal about concrete plans. I’m guarding what little free time I have at the end of the semester for, well, To Be Determined! Some mornings when I wake up, I feel like going for an icy-cold run in the Parc Monceau. Others, I just want to curl up with my current French novel near the (one) heater in my apartment. Today, I intended to go Christmas shopping again. Instead, I walked from NYU across the Pont Bir-Hakeim in the drizzling rain, and looked up at the Eiffel Tower, half cut-off by fog. I took the train to the Musée d’Orsay, which I had been warned might be closed because of museum worker strikes. Au contraire: everyone was getting in for free, because the ticket stands were shut down! I didn’t revisit rooms I had seen before, or ones that seemed obligatory. Instead, I saw the current Art Nouveau Revival exposition, and spent the rest of the time visiting rooms that looked a bit empty. I discovered a Bonnard I had never noticed, as well as the most expertly painted snow I’ve ever seen (the photo doesn’t do it justice!) In short, I removed the “shoulds,” at least for a few hours, and enjoyed myself all the more for it.

I don’t think there’s any place better than Paris to roam around, stumble upon, follow one’s nose, or discard obligations. Old European cities are chock full of small and large beauties, and I’m glad I’ve learned better how to find them.

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