Natalie

Today For You
2006-08-06 20:46:34 (UTC)

Bohemia

The Dictionary defines Bohemian as: * A native or
inhabitant of Bohemia. * The group of Czech language
dialects used in Bohemia. * An artisan, usually gifted in
literature or the creative arts; one who defies social
conventions; a gypsy.

While these definitions are technically correct, they don't
seem to do justice to describing the Bohemian lifestyle.

Being Bohemian is all about living in an alternative space.
Bohemians express themselves without regard for social
convention. They attempt to experience the mysteries of
life through their unique perspective. The term Bohemian,
as it refers to lifestyle, seems to have begun in France
with the term La Boheme. It started as a way of describing
bands of carefree 'gypsys' that came from Romania. As they
traveled through Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), the
reigning royalty gave them letters of safe passage. These
letters indicated that the Bohemian royalty condoned their
practices and lifestyle, which afforded them a sense of
prestige in western Europe at the time.

Today Bohemian is used to describe free-thinking, free-
living people - usually artists. Its modern roots are with
the Beatniks of the 1950s. Their poets now stand as icons
of progressive libertarian thinking.




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