I recently received a comment from Zorkmid on my about me about the concept of being an Intellectual Bohemian. The comment was placed on my about me and so is not readily accessible by everyone so I thought I share it with you.
Zorkmid said:
Hi!
You have a great blog. I like the concept of “intellectual bohemianism” and enjoyed reading your site posts.
I am from Northern California where a lot of people think they are bohemian, (Sonoma County even has a newspaper called The Bohemian,) but for the most part, they are more “flakey hippie” than “bohemian. We have a high population of people who enjoy practicing a laid-back-lifestyle. Not that that is bad in itself, but people mistake being a laid-back with being a “bohemian.”
Many people who call themselves bohemian are being different for the sake of fitting in with everyone else. They identify with the groovy, natural, farmer’s market culture, and so they adopt the “lifestyle” and dress of a typical Northern Californian. However, I don’t really think that is being bohemian in the true sense.
Being bohemian means making intelligent choices and not conforming for your own reasons: People might label you as being unconventional as a result, but it is not being unconventional as the goal.
It is the difference between wearing a tie-dye shirt because it looks cool, and making your own tie-dye shirt because you want to express yourself artistically. A hippy wears the shirt because it looks groovy. A bohemian makes the shirt because they want to create something beautiful for themselves. A hippy drives a diesel Volvo because it’s cool to be environmental. A Bohemian might make their own biodiesel–partly because it is environmental–partly because they want to see if they can.
Being bohemian means using your intelligence, and teaching yourself about things you find interesting in the world. Maybe it involves being frugal, but not for the purpose of being anti-capitalist. More for the purpose of choosing not to be wasteful. It means expressing yourself creatively and artistically. Bohemians desire to live richly by appreciating the beauty that is around us.
Anyway, I would like to know your definition of what it means to be an Intellectual Bohemian. The concept is fascinating.
Best wishes, from one free-spirit to another,
Z
I briefly covered this topic in my first post on this blog back in December, but it was very brief and hardly anybody read the blog back then.
In the post I use a definition of Bohemian of “someone who does not conform to the cultural norms or thoughts of society”, and Intellectual would be “someone of a higher than average intelligence.” I use these two in my original post by saying:
The idea for Intellectual Bohemian comes from an accurate description of me as someone who has a higher than average intellect and who doesn’t automatically conform to the thinking of the majority, in political, religious and social views, and in my pastimes.
In a nutshell that is me. I try to think for myself in forming opinions on things rather than listening to the media or the masses. This goes for a number of areas including politics, morality, religion, and relaxation.
In politics I see myself as a “floating voter” rather than having an allegiance to any political party or any political issue.
In morality I usually go against the common practice of doing only what will be good or feel good to me as can be seen in British Society, and hold on to traditional ideas of charity, monogamy, and putting other peoples needs ahead of my own.
In religion I am a liberal Catholic who shares most of the views of the Catholic Church, but not because of being told to but due to thinking and reasoning my opinion out.
In my relaxation and spare time I tend to do what I enjoy but do so in a thoughtful way.
For example whilst I watch the NFL and the English Premiership I am usually analysing tactics and formations as much as I am watching the game, in gaming I do play games but the games I choose I try to stick to my morals on, and try to keep my number of games to a minimum. This means I attempt to sell or exchange games rather than ending up with lots of games I don’t play too often.
I hope that this clears up what I mean by an Intellectual Bohemian and how I feel it applies in my case. Feel free to comment if there are any other suggestions fore what I have not covered here or any questions.
