Home and travel: comparative analysis and characteristics

Home and Travel

Much of Minimal

There can be little room for doubt as to the potency of the human mind and its ability to largely influence perception and the emotional response evoked by individual stimuli. In many ways large and small, distant and comfortingly near, Alain de Botton's "On Habit" confirms the ability of the mind to greatly color the numerous impressions that assault it within the external, living world. While the bulk of this manuscript deals with the concept of a shift in perspective providing a (frequently) welcome break in perceptions and regards to one's surroundings, there is a perhaps a less discernible, but certainly more universal truth at the foundation of this narration that answers virtually all questions regarding the effects of such alterations in viewpoint. This notion is at the basis of de Botton's essay and is the fabric which these other (relatively) minor points are intrinsically based upon: that which a man (or a woman) sets his mind to seek, he or she will inevitably find. Or quite simply, one will get what one decides to seek.

The examples in which this thesis can be proven in "On Habit" are plentiful, and involve both the author and the true hero of the essay, Xavier De Maistre, who willfully traveled about his domicile in awe of the daily occurrences and objects which could be found there. De Maistre's experience spent exploring, reflecting, and contemplating the wonders of his own home, and the free-flowing impressions, memories, and thoughts latently and actively accumulated there, are decidedly personal and highly indicative of the efficacy that such a shift in perspective produces. After deciding to spend a certain amount of time in his home while observing it through a renewed sense of sight that regards things as though seeing them for the first time, De Maistre's reflections turn decidedly inward, as the following quotation evidences. "From his sofa, De Maistre spies his bed. Once again, from a traveler's vantage point, he learns to appreciate this complex piece of furniture. He feels grateful for the night he has spent in it…But thereafter De Maistre may be accused of losing sight of the overall purpose of his endeavor. He becomes mired in long and wearing digressions about his dog, Rosine, his sweetheart, Jenny, and his faithful servant, Joannetti" (61). The degree to which a shift in mindset, which enabled De Maistre to 'travel" about his domicile, viewing it as though it were highly impressionable, can certainly be deemed a personal experience, as the allusions to the author's lover and his pet readily indicate. In fact, de Botton nearly accuses De Maistre of becoming too personal at the expense of neglecting the point of his room travel in the latter's narrative, Journey around My Bedroom. In that respect, it can certainly be demonstrated that a shift in perspective offers a personal experience, albeit simply because De Maistre made up his mind to perceive the subtlest impressions of his room -- he was therefore able to do so.

The degree to which volition and the mind can engender a decidedly social experience can best be illustrated by de Botton's attempts to similarly regard his surroundings with a perspective of novelty and impressionability that would rival De Maistre's. De Botton's example may be even more convincing than that of De Maistre, for the simple fact that the former offers more evidence of the potency of the mind in regards to perception, as the following quotation dutifully proves. "I walked along this particular road almost every day to reach my Underground station and was unused to considering it as anything other than a means to my end. Information that assisted me in my goal attracted my attention, what did not was judged irrelevant. I was therefore sensitive to the number of people on the pavement, for they might interrupt my path, whereas their faces and expressions were invisible to me, as invisible as the shapes of the building or the activity in the shops" (62-63). Although the experience described in this quotation is decidedly anti-social, it will only allow for greater room to emphasize the social aspect of a mind shift once the author begins to regard his surroundings as De Maestro proposed in Journey around My Bedroom. What is significant about this quotation, however, is the fact that it readily demonstrates that when de Botton configured his mind to not regard anything other than getting to his Underground station as expediently as possible, that lone goal was the single occupant of his mind, of his perceptions, and of his perspective of his journey to do so. Such a quotation certainly demonstrates the power of the mind to provide its subject with whatever goal it desires -- if that goal is to get to a train station as quickly as possible, then that will be achieved with little variation or accountability for virtually anything else.

Yet the social nature of an alteration in the typical patterns of perception inherent in the mind can be evidenced in the following example, in which de Button peruses the same street which he takes to his train station while deciding to be more observant and open to sensations. Suddenly, he notices and discovers a variety of things which he may have been aware of before, but which he certainly had not paid any attention to. The crucial factor to remember, of course, is that he only discovered such things after consciously willing himself to be more open to such impressions in his attempt to verify De Maistre's regards for perceptions in the latter's notable chronicles. The following quotation proves de Button's success in this venture. "…following De Maistre, I tried to reverse the process of habituation, to disassociate my surroundings from the uses I had found for them until then, I forced myself to obey a peculiar kind of mental command: to look around me as though I had never been in this place before. And slowly, my travels began to bear fruit…I got on a bus and, rather than slipping at once into private concerns, tried to connect imaginatively with other passengers. I could hear a conversation in the row ahead of me…" (63-64). The social aspect of this quotation, and of the experience of the alteration in de Button's mind to become aware of other sensations, is fairly obvious. The author has made an attempt to "connect" with other passengers, to hear their conversations and imagine scenarios responsible for them. Yet the most noteworthy part of this quotation lies in the amount of effort it required. De Button was only able to achieve this awareness because he set his mind to do so. He "tried" to become attuned to other people, he "forced" himself to adhere to a "mental" mandate which allowed him to be able to be aware of such external factors, and to have them leave internal impressions upon him. In short, he sought to do something, with his mind, and he was able to achieve it simply because he made the attempt.