![]() ![]() While the hustle and bustle of modernity may make this desire more evident, and fulfilling it more arduous, we have sought to rid ourselves of the present since the distant past. The longing to escape what “is” constitutes an all but natural aspect of the human condition. In fact, the entire landscape painting tradition in Tang-era China became an outlet for artists to find meaning in the natural world as political instability around them made reality devoid of it. Lest we artificially confine ourselves to the Western canon, there are a plethora of works originating from East Asia that convey the same themes, such as Yi Jeong’s 17th century portrayal of a wizened figure seeking solace beside a lake. In rougher yet similarly broad brushstrokes, John Singer Sargent’s depiction of Lake O’Hara in the Canadian Rockies balances the calmness of the water with the terrific majesty of the terrain behind it, almost as if to warn the eager adventurer, still accustomed to urban comforts, that nature is an equally loving and cruel mistress. One can point to the dreamy procession of boats that Claude Monet drew at Argenteuil, conveniently leaving out the smokestacks of factories that surrounded the town in order to capture what could be real than what really was. The various methods that humans have crafted to seek a temporary reprieve from everyday life are well-represented in artistic traditions around the world, and examples of renditions abound among Harvard’s collections. And if social interaction is ever insufficient in helping us withstand the monotony of the workweek, we can always briefly go full Byron: venturing literally into the “pathless woods” to seek Nature herself. After all, the conversations we have every day, from Sunday brunch gossip to water cooler talk and barista banter, represent some of the most potent social glues holding communities together in America. ![]() Of course, we do not only find escape in following the lives of fictional others. Whether it’s Ross Geller or Superman, these are figures whose desires and destinies are more limited by the screenwriter’s pen than traffic or bounced checks. For instance, we watch movies and television sitcoms, melding ourselves into the characters onscreen who seemingly never have to pay rent or file a W-4. Lucia?Īs escaping to the Caribbean is rarely a viable course of action - at least for those of us who wish to maintain our obligations, livelihoods, and grade point averages - we naturally drift to less ambitious ways to abscond from the diktats of reality. To put it another way: How many of you have ever had the desire, however fleeting, to drop everything and take a two-week sojourn to St. Even so, there certainly lies in all of us to some degree, a tiny Mephistophelian voice that, rather than tempt with material pleasures, goads us to gleefully abandon the present. It comes to no surprise then that we often use our brief moments of respite to mentally teleport to a fantastical world, where all is forgiven and life is a lot more simple and serene.įor those more burdened than others by the drudgery of daily life, this escapist itch is predictably stronger. Defined by motion and unforgiving of sloth, the demands of modernity offer but few opportunities to stop and catch one’s breath. So waxed Lord Byron’s “Childe Harold” about what surely has been the unspoken sentiment of many. I love not man the less, but Nature more…” “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, ![]()
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