Advice from the Romantics—“Put down the Phone and Walk, Swim... or Dance.”

What would the old school Romantics say about people who spend all their time looking at screens and scrolling on phones?

"Go for a walk... or a swim... or a dance!"

Walking

Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

• "I had a walk by myself in the sweetest rain. It was a gentle rain, and I walked for two hours, and was not wet through, but had the pleasure of catching drops upon my hat and cloak, and of listening to the sound of the gentle rain, which was like music to my ears." (Letter to William Wordsworth, September 23, 1802)

• "The very act of walking is in itself a source of inspiration... give me the clear blue sky over my head, and the green turf beneath my feet, a winding road before me, and a three hours' march to dinner—and then to thinking!"" (Letter to Thomas Poole, October 13, 1803)

William Wordsworth*

Van Gogh Road with Cypress and Star, 1890

• "Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher." (The Tables Turned)

• "I wandered lonely as a cloud/ That floats on high o'er vales and hills/ When all at once I saw a crowd,/ A host, of golden daffodils." (I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud)

(*Wordsworth was estimated to have walked over 100,000 miles in his lifetime.)

Swimming

Samual Taylor Coleridge

• "Swimming, particularly in salt water, is the surest and most powerful tonic I have ever used. I sleep like a baby after a swim; my mind becomes composed, and I am satisfied with myself and all around me." (From a letter to Tom Poole, July 1802)

Percy Bysshe Shelley

• "... [T]he practice of swimming is a sovereign one for health, and gives an exhilaration and vigor beyond all other exercises." (Letter to friend)

Lord Byron

In 1810, Byron swam across the Dardanelles, a 2 mile strait that separates Europe and Asia. He wrote about the experience in his travelogue, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage:"

• "The moment we were in the current, I felt myself refreshed as by a new existence--a feeling which increased as we advanced. The water did not seem to me to be cold, and to swim in it was a delight to be enjoyed only by those who have experienced the same sensations."

Byron considered his swim a symbol of courage and resilience:

• "I swam the Hellespont, / Turkey's bravest and my own; / But when I swam in thy sweet eyes, / I lost all strength and felt surprise."

The swim became a famous incident in Byron's life, and is recognized as an example of the Romantics' daring and adventurous spirit.

Dancing

Novalis

• "Dance is the hidden language of the soul, of the body. And it is ultimately the language of the universe, the language of the stars and the planets and the cosmos itself."

Goethe

Goethe believed in the transformative power of dance - particularly the waltz. ("Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship.") To Goethe, dancing was not just a physical activity, but a powerful tool for self-discovery and a way to connect with something greater than oneself.

Marc Chagall Wedding

• "Dancing is the poetry of the foot. A good dancer is not necessarily one who has a perfect body or knows every step, but one who listens to the music, feels it, and lets the spirit move him where it wants."

The old Romantics would probably look at us scrolling in fluorescent rooms and say, “Put the phone down—go outside, walk in the rain, jump in the sea, dance like a lunatic—that’s where your soul wakes up.”