The Bohemia in reality

7:20 pm


bohemia [bō hmi ə](plural bohemias)
noun
1.
unconventional community: a community of artists and other people who live unconventional lives
2.
unconventional lifestyle: the unconventional lifestyle characteristic of bohemians
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While at Greenwich, my mom handed me the Sunday Inquirer, and as soon as I got hold of the front page(s), I make it a habit to always check out the Opinion section and read what Patricia Evangelista has to say. Her column today struck me queer. I really do ask, which lifestyle best suites our society right now? Is it, the Bohemian? or the society that entails being slaves to the Man?

Ahh...What a really strange question that is. In a bohemian society, the rules are, there are no rules. You live to live. You live to rebel. You live to express. You live to love. You live to be free.

In the society rules by the realists (or the law abiding bitches and the ultimate dog of them all, the law itself), means, you live everyday, to be a law abiding citizen. You work for the Man. You worship the system. The system that sometimes can be a bitch. The same system which dictates what to do and what not to do. Whether it be not to steal...or the system that requires you to leave your baggages at the baggage counter (so inconvenient sometimes). Yes, order and chaos at it's best. Yin and Yang. To be or not to be. The ultimate question.

Would we actually be ready to risk experiencing unconventionality to experience bliss? Or would we find solace in order and tried and tested methods?

They say bohemia is dead. Gone are the days of the hippies and the Mayflower. The tried and tested method of conventionality is based on the system. At the end of the day, the Man prevails. No matter how much we try to bring back bohemia within the society, the society rejects it, like the ultimate pill. But, amidst this "systematically rooted" world, you can't be faulted if the Bohemia in you lives on. Who ever said that the bohemian method of living can't be applied to you in particular? Sure, society is done with it. But, it's not necessarily true that you're done with the bohemian way. :)

I'm almost nearing the age where we have to choose, for our future's sake, the path of slavery to the system, or the path where no one is a slave to anything. I will soon be faced with the challenge: to work or not to work with the system? They say that we rebel at this age. They also say that at my age, we are molded to be the country's only hope. They also say the the years of adolescence brings stupidity and yes, hope for the better. I'm not in the position to choose a path yet. But one thing is certain...Yes, I may be stupid, but maybe I'm stupid enough to think for myself, to have that free will to unleash the bohemian and the slave inside of me. Who ever said I can't be a bohemian and a slave at the same time? And when that time will come...where my generation will make those choices. Let's see if the Man won't blink.