Life in the Woods
Thoughts and quotes from Thoreau’s Walden (1854)
Knowledge
“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.” This quote speaks volume coming from a book published in 1854. That is still so relevant. Books are carefully crafted thoughts by the authors to share an experience and expand knowledge. You can discover a lot about a person by simply observing their book shelf. Thoreau preferred to spend majority of his time in solitude, one with his thoughts. Mastering his craft and this shows in his writing. Stripped of all worldly deeds he was able to ponder on life from a perspective of simplicity.
Without the constant worries of the world that plague most of by our own choosing. Rarely does one sit down to ponder how to get the most of life. Or what truly makes them feel alive. Stuck in the daily minutia of the rat race. For what is life if you have no time to read, write, and ponder. What better book to read in solitude of an alpine lake.
“How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.” There’s only so much time available, start with the best books first. And read to understand. Some ideas take time to digest. Take everything with a grain of salt and always confirm on your own. Be careful not to fall victim of your own bias. It’s too easy to get caught up in the comparative game with our neighbors, that we forget we are all walking our own individual paths. And that’s okay. “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”
Time
“As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” This master crafted thought instantly provokes wonder. Our time is precious and should not be spent wasting away on things that erode life. In today’s world this message endures, with distractions and laziness all around us. Binging tiktoks or social media in a mindless scroll. When you start to breakdown your time here on earth and evaluate the impact you wish to leave. You start to understand just how finite and precious time can be.
Working away many become blind to money, material goods, or just consumption in general. And forget what really matters. They muddy the waters to make it seem deep. To fully experience life you must be able to live on your own terms. For the life we live todays, prepares us for eternity and should be spent growing one’s own conscious mind. Caught up in our busy life’s, too many miss the opportunities to take in the world around us. To consumed with our phones, to spend the time letting our imagination run wild as we gaze at the stars above. “The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.” Wealth is being able to live on your own time.
Thoughts
“Things do not change; we change.” The mind is the most powerful asset we have. To be able to wake up each and every day and control your attitude and thoughts gives us absolute power over our own inner world. Look within. “A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts.” As we learn to harness our thoughts we begin to steer the ship of our life. Small degrees of change can drastically change the destination outcome. We are nothing more than the summation of our own thoughts that create the paradigm of our own thinking. “What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.” Visualizing is to create your life with the power of your mind. It is important to think about what you really need not just want. What are your goals? Don’t get caught up in the dogma of other peoples thinking. You will never know unless you try so remember to always strive for what it is you dream of.
“In the long run, we only hit what we aim at.” Mailable like iron our minds only can be shaped through intentional repetitions. Over time with consistency shaping a thing of beauty. “The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity.” In a world too easy to just believe what were told, always ask yourself what is the truth. And learn to think for your self. Pity to the man who always obeys, for he is nothing more than a slave to others thought, but his own.
Wealth
“For my greatest skill has been to want but little.” The richest man is the man who already has everything he desires. When you start to break things down and simplify your life. You began to realize how much energy is waisted of frivolous material items. In todays culture we are bombarded by advertisements depicting a happy life if only we had the next newest best thing. When the basic needs are met and you begin to live in the present. All the busy worries of life begin to subside at least for a moment. “I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little world all to myself.” It is imperative to breakdown and analyze what it is your want in life. While from time to time it is important to treat yourself, careful not to get sucked in to the endless cycle of materialism. “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” I feel sorry for the man who seeks luxury brand goods, while his shelf build dust, bookless. In hopes to impress others of who you are, when you don’t know the answer yourself, because you have never asked yourself.
“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” Being rich in life goes far beyond money. In fact one could argue after the basic needs are met, your desires than control your wealth. All the money in the world doesn’t mean a thing with out your health.
Nature
“A lake is a landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” There’s something mystical about a high alpine lake. Giant mountains guarding from above, the glassy reflection of the lake shines back the beauty above inverted with a glistening glare. Hypnotizes us to reflect on ones own self. There’s a special healing force that occurs when being out in nature under the sun and stars. “A taste for the beautiful is most cultivated out of doors.” Just as the sun comes up everyday so too do the flowers bud in spring and temperatures drop in winter. Everything in nature plays a specific role in a larger web of connectivity. In tune with the cycles of life. Nature teaches us that patience must be mastered. Just as the seed takes days, sometimes weeks before it first sprouts. With life it is important to be patient. “let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature and not be thrown off the trail by every nutshell that falls off the rails.” If we actually spent our time as focused on our purpose as are the animals and plants in nature, then we would truly be able to transcend human consciousness. There’s great calmness in solitude in the outdoors. Every night the master artists paints a thousand sunsets, for those tasteful enough to pleasure. “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” Thoreau emphasizes the importance of solitude, contemplation, and being close with nature to being able to transcend the “desperate” existence of so many others.
Work/Life Balance
“Men are not so much the keepers of herds as herds are the keepers of men.” We are but memetic creatures and the path of least resistance is often going along with the crowd. Unfortunately not many people think for themselves, sheep to the Shepard of others opinions. Even our day to day life's are often unimaginative. We see what everyone else is doing and assume we should do the same. It is important to have a life beyond working. Thoreau is a friendly remind that work-life balance is key.
“The laboring man has not leisure for a true integrity day by day; he cannot afford to sustain the manliest relations to men; his labor would be depreciated in the market. He has no time to be anything but a machine.” Withering away your days doing mundane tasks of repetition is no way to experience life to the fullest. The more you’re able to simplify your life, the more time you will have to spend life as it was meant to be spent. There’s a balance that must be achieved. A level of contentment that must be reached. If you work away your days solely for money, where’s the indulgence of life? True wealth is determined by how much we’d be worth if we lost all our money. Always be skeptical to think that any outward improvement of life can bring inner peace and contentment when you go about your daily works.
