Bohemianism Conclusion

 It is currently December 13th, the day before we meet on Zoom for the last time this semester. With less than 24 hours before we are to meet, I find myself thinking back to how little I knew going into this semester - the black ink from the Freddie Mercury song still ever-present in my notebook that I now struggle to find a black page in. 

So with that, this blank ink is where I must start - I must trace back to those fleeting moments before our first session. As I anxiously awaited for the green light of my laptop camera to stare back at me as I repeated those lines over and over in my head. Nervously jotting down whatever I could think of that constitutes Merriam-Webster’s definition of an “unconventional life”. And now in December, I cannot help but laugh at this manic-like page that sits in the middle of my notebook - how different my entire thought-process has come to be over the past few months. 

With this being said, I now think of Bohemianism in a vastly different light than ever before - simply, a light that views Bohemianism as a multi-faceted way of life that can be applied to a myriad of different worldly occurrences and thought processes. 

I now look back at my completed Commonplace and see the various topics that have not only been addressed within the realm of this course, but also those that can be applied to our society today. For instance, Baudelaire defines “Bohemianism” as that which can mean drunkenness, by alcohol or life in general, community, cities, and the outsider. Simply put, this one word can be used to describe quite a wide variety of worldly pleasures and universal human experiences. 

This one word can even go on to describe the progression of society, as a whole - especially in regards to a woman’s place in our world. We spoke on the definition of the 21st century woman, through a Bohemianism lens, and its relation to the phenomenon of Free Love and Marriage. With this being said, this Bohemian lens sheds light on not only the progression of our society, but also its many shortcomings. A primary shortcoming being our constant battle against racism that has been embedded into the realm of our society for centuries.

Each of the works presented this semester shed light on all that is Bohemian, a truly multi-faceted way of life that goes way beyond the definitions provided to me by Merriam-Webster.