From the disparity between the immensity of the possible and the smallness of the human being there springs the torment and the energy of the flâneur. Persecuted by frustration, he is sentenced to a sort of perpetual motion.*
Federico Castigliano

Why shouldn’t an anonymous career spent quietly helping a few people get to qualify as a meaningful way to spend one’s time? Why shouldn’t an absorbing conversation, an act of kindness, or an exhilarating hike get to count. Why adopt a definition [of achievement] that rules such things out?**
Oliver Burkeman

We may never achieve “great” things –
As others see them,
We may not accomplish everything we want,
We may never finish the “to do” list or empty the inbox –
And all of this is okay, the reality of our smallness
and finiteness.

Whilst the spirit of the flâneur and the flâneuse illustrates
the importance of wandering and
slowness, openness and
wonder, curiosity and
questioning, this doesn’t have to result in
persecution and frustration,
Rather, in embracing rather than fighting our
finitude, we may ease into the
meaningful and satisfying life that awaits us.

*Federico Castigliano’s Flâneur;
**Oliver Burkeman’s Meditations for Mortals.