This year in Europe, I met a French girl who studied abroad in the US.
I asked her: “what are some things that surprised you about America?”
Ginormous drink sizes. Expensive groceries. Needing to own a car. These were common answers.
But here’s one that changed my perspective:
To her, Americans always seemed to do things with an end goal in mind.
She noticed how Americans didn’t really go on walks for their own sake. There was usually a reason they did everything.
A walk to get to groceries. A walk to get to class. There always had to be a plan. Activities became a means to an end.
She told me that in Paris, a common way to hang out is to go for a walk in the city.
And by a walk, she meant a walk.
Not planning the details. Just going for a walk. Maybe stopping for a coffee if you feel like it. Maybe popping into a cool store. You’re not rushing to complete the walk in an exact amount of time.
It’s spontaneous. It’s slower and more deliberate.
It might sound silly, but the point of walking isn’t always to finish the walk.
It’s to enjoy the walk itself. To have fun, enjoy the present, and wander:
“Even a walk to the supermarket has a goal—getting to the supermarket—whereas on a hike, you either follow a loop or reach a given point before turning back, so the most efficient way to reach the endpoint would be never to leave in the first place.”
- Oliver Burkeman, 4 Thousand Weeks
Think about that.
The most efficient way to walk is to never leave your house.
Of course this perspective doesn’t extend to all Americans. But America tends to be centered around efficiency, optimization, and always feeling like you need to be working towards something.
It has less to do with culture and everything to do with leisure.
Don’t get me wrong: routines and plans are essential. But planning everything sucks the fun out of life.
So when you’re off work this week, try wandering. Go for a walk with no plan. Walk slow. Observe the details of reality. Explore.
Schedule some spontaneity.
If something catches your eye, stop. If you see a neat coffee place, pop in. Go for a drive with no clue where you’ll end up. You’ll have so much fun, and you’ll feel like a kid again.
Remember: not everything has to have an end goal.
Do things for their own sake. Don’t do things just "for the gram." Explore. Play. Lose yourself in something.
Have a great Thursday,
Baxter
📚A Book That Will Change Your Life
Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani.
Incredible insights from a guy who was working side-by-side with Bill Gates and got fired on purpose. In this book, the author deeply explores our belief systems and gives some of the best “happiness” advice I’ve ever heard.
A quick summary:
“What if everything we think we know about how the world works - our ideas of love, education, spirituality, work, happiness, and love - are based on brules (bullsh*t rules) that get passed from generation to generation and are long past their expiration date?”
One of the best books I’ve ever read. You can check it out here:
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