I will admit that reading Walden was not always easy for me. Half-way through “Economy” I found myself getting constantly distracted by my own thoughts about deadlines, social events, and meetings . I would have to read and re-read paragraphs until I finally payed enough attention to comprehend the words in front of me. It was tedious, but ultimately worth it because, once I made it through “Economy”, it was much easier for me to get lost in the rich writing instead of just being lost.
In the following chapters I found much of what Thoreau wrote connected to modern life. Sure he spends a lot of time on a high horse, and sure it might not be possible for all of us to run into the forest as a societal experiment, but there is something to be said for the insight that Thoreau provides in recounting his experiences. In fact, I believe Thoreau made one particularly valuable and applicable point about knowing one’s self in the closing paragraphs of the chapter entitled “The Village”.
Here Thoreau states, in a number of interconnected ways, that you must get lost to ever truly know yourself. Over the summer my mom offered me some advice that I think speaks to a similar idea. She told me that sometimes you will break, but in mending those breaks you will learn and you will grow so that you might not break again. Both her words and the words of Thoreau have helped me put a lot into perspective. In both breaking and being lost you are forced to learn. It might be uncomfortable, but in the end you will be confident in knowing who you are and where you are, whether that be emotionally or physically.
I completely agree that Thoreau was hard to read. His language is oftentimes dense and I found myself disagreeing with many of his ideas and most especially his attitude. Not many people can take the luxury to just up and move into the woods to find them-self, but I think unfortunately in our modern time it also wouldn’t be legal. Thoreau lived when the world was still able to be explored and people weren’t everywhere that people could be. At this point I doubt there is a piece of woods that someone could just go to and inhabit. It’s probably either owned privately or by the government and you’d be violated for trespassing, or someone would come after you in a worried search party. I feel that Thoreau, to find himself, was able to physically get lost. Here and now I don’t think that is any longer a possibility, however there are still means of getting mentally and emotionally lost. Maybe even lost a little bit physically in a state park, but you would be found eventually. I don’t think it could ever be the same as Thoreau’s experience, and I do think that this is a loss.