Romanticism & Intentional Time Outdoors

Last week’s presentation on Romanticism stayed with me after class ended. Instead of just thinking about it as a historical movement, I found myself thinking about the centuries before us. The landscapes people wrote about and made paintings of, and about the earth before modern infrastructure. 

Romanticism emphasizes emotion, imagination, individual experience, and a deep honor for nature. After class on Tuesday, I walked home thinking about how disconnected my life can feel from those ideas, being in a fast-paced environment that focuses on school and the future. By the time I reached my house, I was researching classic novels from older time periods. Something about reading literature written in a slower world gave me the idea that it could help me slow down more. I called my grandfather to talk to him about it, and we ended up building a “to-read” list together (he is an avid reader)! He had gifted me a Kindle last year, and I became excited to use it for this new quest. Since Tuesday, I have made it about 1/6 of the way through my first book. I realized right away how long these novels are, but also that they use such different terms and vocabulary. I was already noticing my vocabulary gap while reading for this class, and since then, I have been writing and speaking with greater eloquence than I used to. 

Reading outside or in front of my window has become part of the experience. I find myself noticing more about my environment as I am seeing how descriptive the author is in the book I am reading. I feel as though I am experiencing nature while reading about someone else experiencing nature in another era. Romanticism rejected the rationality of industrial progress and instead valued feeling and the power of the natural world. I can see why. Sitting outside with a book feels grounding in a way scrolling through social media does not. When I read while tanning on Thursday, I felt engaged rather than distracted. I feel like my attention is being built through this. 

What surprises me most is how reading older literature has shifted my awareness of history. The world we know is rather recent: technology, convenience, and constant stimulation. These authors wrote in a time shaped by different social structures and different relationships. In a small way, choosing to read classic literature feels like practicing a modern form of Romanticism. It is my way of returning to reflection, imagination, and attention. Instead of consuming quick content, I am choosing to consume content that takes me longer to understand, but teaches me a whole lot more. And that choice has made me think differently about how I spend my time. 

Though it may not have been an intentional impact within this course, I am quite grateful to have taken this lesson from what we have started in this first half of the semester! 

The pictures I took last class during our activity: 

My "To Read" List that I made with my grandpa