Thoreau's Walden

Thoreau’s Walden “Where I lived, and what I lived for” seemed significant in both a physical and philosophical realm. Walden reflects on the places he looked at before living in Walden. He talks about how he came close to settling in the Hollowell Place until the owner decided she didn’t want to sell the house. This seemed like a fairly big loss to Thoreau because he had plans to farm a large tract of the land. This must have taken much time and planning and I think it is interesting how Thoreau reacted to this situation. Thoreau quotes that it was best for him to “live free and uncommitted” and simply took off to live in the woods elsewhere. Thoreau definitely did not dwell on his loss and simply continued to live his life.

            Thoreau settles off into the woods and comments his great achievement of settling in Walden. When he first moves in on July fourth, he is happy to have a place to meet his physical needs, but his abode is much more meaning full in philosophical sense. He comments on he feels like a god on Olympus. It seemed strange to me that Thoreau was so excited to have this new place because it was run down and didn’t even have a chimney. However, I like this trait of Thoreau because he was always looking toward the positive in every situation. He claims that anywhere is place fit for a god if only one has the right outlook on the situation. Thoreau’s optimism seems to serve him well in rough circumstances when he comments on the frequent breeze in his house. It seems that most people would either complain about the draft or find some way to fix it. However Thoreau simply looks at the situation differently and claims that he has the benefit of fresh air on summer nights. Thoreau’s optimism is complemented by simplicity and this simplicity seems to bring him happiness.

            Thoreau’s simplicity transcends into a philosophical thought when he talks about time. He claims that he is free from time and matter and that time is a river in which he goes fishing. Thoreau continues to take on this god like persona by mentally choosing to take part in time or be absent of it. This statement of Thoreau was interesting to me because I am quite the opposite of this mind set. I like things to be structured and planned. I feel like I have to use all the time of my day so that no time is wasted. Sometimes this can be a strength or a weakness depending on the circumstance. I feel like having balance is a key to achieving the most out of life. I think this is why I liked Thoreau’s commit on time so much because the idea takes a different path on how I now perceive time. Sometimes it is crucial to use all the time we have to get things done. However, after reading Thoreau’s comment on time I feel like it is also important to bring your line out of the water of time sometimes for a mental break.

                Thoreau also has a large passion for reading that I thought was significant. Much of his ideas are supported by Hindu thinkers or great books. I admire people who really take time to learn from great works and implement them in their own lives. However, I feel like reading was one of the only things Thoreau had to do in the woods alone. Much like Ben Franklin, reading was primarily one of his hobbies because it was one of the only forms of communication in a print based world. Today things are much different and we don’t see many people with their heads buried in a book. Society has definitely developed to where people spend their leisure time doing other things like watching tv, playing video games, or surfing the web. I feel like this is one of the reasons that people have to force themselves to read today. I really liked Thoreau’s analogy of reading as an act of work such as farming or athletics. Just like these people have to get their farm ready for harvest or their bodies ready for competition, we have to train our minds to read. I like this idea of breaking a mental sweat and reaching for things that are uncomfortable or challenging.