Weekend Guide: Zen State
nirvana by way of nouveau roman
Zen is above all the liberation of the mind from conventional thought, and this is something utterly different from rebellion against convention, on the one hand, or adapting foreign conventions, on the other.
You don’t have to get everything you consume. Things don’t have to make sense. Not everything contains meaning, or even has a purpose. Now that’s a tidy little allegory for this thing called life. Let’s keep it moving.
Finding yourself lost in a piece of art is something that should be chased after like enlightenment. It feels good.
Do you remember getting lost? Like, driving lost. No GPS or printed out MapQuest directions lost. That feeling of going off instinct and finding your way home. Liken it to a childlike wonder — a way to see the world through a different light. I miss that confusion.
How do we get lost now? What if we want to exercise that muscle? The one where we actually have to try to make sense on our own and drive blind for a bit. Sort answer — we don’t. You could argue that this feeling has been rebranded for the working class as a flow state. But, if you were arguing with me — you would lose!
Halfway through The Voyeur by Alain Robbe-Grillet I was like — what the fuck?! What is this? Totally unmoored, but kind-of following along, just interested enough to keep flipping. Turning and turning. Following a completely unreliable narrator in circles. Different perspectives. Time shifts. Bold faced contradictions. All packed and presented as a murder mystery. Stay with me.
The Voyeur is a touchstone of the Nouveau Roman movement. Le Monde coined Nouveau Roman in the Early 50’s to describe this type of anti novel. It was a movement where writers were essentially ignoring plot, dialogue, linear narrative, and human interest — a complete liberation from the constraints of the form.
Total guided meditation. I am pretty sure I touched the hand of the creator at some point during my pass through. I’ll spare you the plot details — as they are kind of irrelevant — but I will say that it’s about a traveling watch salesman and how he may or may not be responsible for the murder of a local girl. Proceed with caution.
Seriously thought, is there a better way to achieve some semblance of zen than reading a book? No fucking way!
Tap the third eye. Forget your mindfulness meditation practice for a second. Read a something from the nouveau roman canon. Report back with your findings. Mariska Hargitay.
YOU HAVE GONE FROM NOWHERE TO NOW HERE.