The French have a wonderful word for what I want to talk about today. That word is flâneur. French-English dictionaries often define a flâneur – rather prosaically, it seems to me – as someone who strolls aimlessly.
But a flâneur is much more than that. According to the flâneurlife website, a flâneur is a “connoisseur of the street – a highly observant urban wanderer who takes in everything they see as they seek experiences that fuel their creative minds.”
Think about what happens when we do something like that. As a couple – young or old – taking in those coincidental sights and sounds while strolling can precipitate fond memories of past romance. My guess is that more than a few relationships have found the spark of inspiration, or re-inspiration, from an apparently casual evening stroll.
As the flâneurlife website goes on to observe:
“Our most valuable thoughts are often those that arise by chance at the moments we least expect them. There’s the brilliant business idea when you’re walking down the sidewalk, in no particular hurry to get where you’re going, merely taking in the sights and sounds. The drowsy midnight discovery that wakes you up from your pre-sleep hypnotic trance. The elevator epiphany. Traffic light insight. Bathtub revelation. It’s these random moments that are the raison d’être for the flâneur.”
An article in The Globe and Mail sparked my interest in the subject once again. Why? Because it suggested that the pandemic has had the unintended consequence of rekindling our interest in walking.
As The Globe and Mail author stated:
To walk is to be human. Yet over the past few generations, many of us have lost the habit. First the horse, then the horse and carriage and finally the motor vehicle gave us a way to get around without the bother of putting one foot in front of the other.
The cult of the car made walking look almost quaint. In rich countries, at least, walking was for suckers. Four wheels good, two legs bad. Cities built to ease the flow of traffic became hostile environments for pedestrians. Today, those who own cars often make even short trips by automobile. Could the COVID-19 disaster reverse this dismal trend?
To put the walking phenomenon into historical perspective, in his 2015 book Born to Walk: The Transformative Power of a Pedestrian Act Dan Rubinstein states that 40 years ago, two-thirds of North American children got to school on foot or by bicycle. Today, just one third do.
I can personally attest to this fact as my walk to school took me around 25 to 30 minutes each way, depending on the weather and the company I was in. My brother covered the distance on his bike in a flash. We were never driven by car. Ever.
Health Benefits of Walking Revisited
The health benefits of walking are well known. Walking can:
- Help prevent obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes
- Lower your blood pressure
- Increase bone density and build muscle mass
- Improves your sense of balance and reduces risk of falls
Governments are falling into step too. The following are just a few examples of how they’re taking measures to encourage and facilitate walking in urban environments:
- Toronto closed a waterfront highway to cars last summer and let pedestrians and cyclists take over
- The space for cars in the Champs-Élysées in Paris is to be cut in half and pedestrians will stroll down a street, shaded by trees and flanked by gardens
- Edinburgh, Scotland, wants to ban cars from stately George Street altogether, freeing up space for strolling and biking
- In Vancouver walking is highly encouraged – just check out these two websites for walking paths for the urban dweller
As the author of The Globe and Mail story proclaimed:
The rage to ramble that has emerged during the pandemic should accelerate the shift. A health crisis is forcing us to rediscover one of the most basic and most healthful of human activities. We are learning to walk again.