How do you express your Bohemian self?

Although I'm interesting in alternative cultures and bohemian history, I don't really live a bohemian life. I go to school and just sort of hang out at home with my boyfriend. My town (a mall town) doesn't have a lot of opportunities, so the way I express my bohemian side is through my mind...I read a lot! I also love to learn as much as I can about it.

So, how do you express your Bohemian self? Through your reading choices? Your clothing? Your home? Or do you live the complete bohemian life?

I think to a point I express it outwardly, because I dress for myself and try not to follow the trends of the moment. In fact when the whole "Bohemian look" became en vogue, I avoided it until it died out, because then it just becomes another uniform. Like elbereth, I think it's a more literary expression. Personally I feel it's good not to try too hard to show how Bohemian one is to others, because then it doesn't feel real - do it for yourself. And also have a little fun with it.

I'm also much more a bohemian of the mind, though my clothes tend to have a bohemian edge. Then again, I'm still of an age where it's acceptable to mooch off my parents, so who knows what will happen once I have to make my own way in the world? I am also an aspiring writer, so I express my bohemian side that way too.

Mostly through my reading, although my house is quite Bohemian, full of books, candles and incense. I don't follow fashion, preferring to wear what I think suits me and what feels comfortable. I think being bohemian is a state of mind and I just go with what feels 'right' to me, it's about developing your own sense of style, regardless of current fads.

I travel to Ann Arbor periodically because that is a Bohemian/Hippie kind of a town with tons of bookstores!
I wear my poncho and my brown suede cap. I also have a happy Buddha shirt I wear alot. I am anti-war and anti-violence, and very pro-diversity. I like to think I am artistic too. I think the Bohemian lifestyle encompasses a lot of these ideals. Oh yeah, me and my hubby are starting to go green and make more conscious choices when it comes to the environment.

I have to agree with you, BananaHead. I never really thought of myself as a bohemian per se, but I have always leaned towards creative endeavors and alternative lifestyles. In college, I majored in history, instead of something practical like business or computer science. I also used to paint, and have sold a painting. After dipping my toe in the corporate world, I now work at a bookstore, which also has a union, and I write in my spare time. My husband and I travel as often as we can, and I'm proud to say I've seen the sun rise on 5 continents.

Just out of curiosity, cuffindell, but what do you write? I've gotten back into writing a little bit this past year (nothing very creative, and almost all non-fiction).

Right now I'm working on the first draft of a mystery novel set in medieval Wales. I love Welsh history and mystery stories, so it's a great way for me to combine the two. What type of non-fiction are you working on, elbereth578?

Wow, that sounds beautiful Cuffindell, to see the sunset on 5 continents! You definitely sound like a traveler, a most Bohemian trait also! (smile)

I suppose I am Bohemian. I lived in a commune for a few years - that was fun. I hitchhiked around Europe with two girlfriends. I can tell one kind of absinthe from another, know how to cultivate indoor and outdoor marijuana (!) and can cook a vegetarian meal for two hundred and fifty people (Glastonbury festival veteran). I can play three musical instruments, can juggle, ride a unicycle, walk on stilts and I can surf (back problems permitting).

I did the nine-to-five mortgage/job/taxes thing and hated it. Now I live on a ship and spend my days reading poetry and learning how to sail. My Special Friend has sailed all around the world four times and is a good friend to well-known folk musicians. We moor in Amsterdam and hold parties in the open air for our friends. Despite that description, I like a quiet, peaceful life and (mostly) have achieved that. Other people might call me a feckless layabout... :)

I'm taking Tango lessons, reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and pretty much anything else that takes my interest. I've read On the Road and Howl and other poems and the first bit of Naked Lunch, but I was reading a bunch of other stuff and I couldn't keep it all together. I'm going to reread it over the summer when I have the time. I'm also writing a murder mystery that heavily envolves Waiting for Godot.
At the moment I feel more like a bohemian in development. Ultimatly, I hope to own an apartement in Toronto, be able to read Tarot, make a few independent movies, write some novels and maybe in ten years become an ex-patriot in Europe somewhere.

Sorry about all those deleted things. I screwed up with the posting. I hope this isn't to much of a problem.

I'm visiting Japan, and I just got this kick-ass kung-fu outfit (made in Hong Kong) as a gift. I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing it everywhere, weather permitting (it's silk, it doesn't breathe very well).

I guees I would be similar to elbereth578 by expressing my bohemianism though my mind. I love to learn and open my self up to new ways of thinking. I know a ton of random facts about strange things that I'll recite at random or I'll use pretentious language in everyday conversations.

I guess the main way that I express my boho self is probably through my writing...and also through my clothing to a certain extent. I don't dress very outrageously but I don't wear designer clothes or whats considered in style. Most of the time, I try to wear something that I created. I love wearing a fedora and black long coat.

Just stumbled across this group and have been catching up on the threads. I'm nothing if not bohemian. Have just moved to Portland from London (after a four year stint in the midlands and the big city~my very own expatriate experience) and am finding SE Hawthorne where I live, well, like coming home. A good place to shop when wanting to fill that bohemian urge, as someone mentioned. My degree is in creative writing so I write of course, read read read, love to travel (am a bit of gypsy really, though hoping to put down roots in Portland), and always go slightly against the grain.

Just joined the group and catching up with this thread. Personally, I'm a vegetarian pacifist, I like to travel, I dress differently to other people and go barefoot whenever possible, as well as wearing flowers and daisy-chains in my hair. I'm an aspiring writer and have won prizes for my poetry in the past, as well as studying for a degree in literature and creative writing. I just like to live my life how I choose, rather than how other people would like me to do.

Bless the poets who dare to go barefoot...

Going barefoot is the only way to walk! I'd love to read some of your poetry.

I don't dare go barefoot now that I'm living in the city, but when ever I go to Boston Common, off come the Birkenstocks!

And now that it's getting cooler, I indulge my Bohemian soul with the many varieties of chai at Tealuxe in Harvard Square.

It sounds like you lead quite the fascinating life!

I dress as I please for the most part. I have a hammerhead shark tattoo and a lucky rabbit's foot tattoo, but not many people know about them. Most of my clothes are second-hand, and I love the individuality this allows.

As far as things I enjoy, this is where the Bohemianism really comes in. I love to write. I have a blog called Bohemian Motherhood, but I'm lazy about updating it. Hot tea and trying new foods are fantastic. I enjoy clove little cigars (pretty much clove cigarettes), even though I don't have a regular habit. Absinthe and alcohol of all kinds are appealing. Hanging out with friends is fun, but I would rather not just go to dinner at somewhere like Applebee's or to see a movie just because it's hot. My interests are varied and can be obscure, but i really could not care less what others think if they cringe a bit when I tell them about my Wunderkammer.