Walden

I appreciate your reflection, Addana, and I think your analysis here is on point. I’m curious: why do you think you “shy away from” experience as a “valuable teacher”? I ask in part because I find I do the same thing. Do you think there’s something about our education system that leads to that? I’m also recalling Thoreau’s own educational experiment — the school he started with his brother — and how he emphasized experiential education and thought his students would learn better in the fields and woods than in the classroom.

I agree. The quote does capture Thoreau’s desire to strip life down to its core and “start from scratch.” This goes back to his anecdote about not buying the farm. He doesn’t need material possessions to feel fulfilled. He just needs the view of the landscape or time alone in the woods and he will be a rich man.

I thought the same too! After reading your comment, I analyzed both paragraphs again and I realized that paragraph 19 actually strengthens paragraph 15. In paragraph 15, he encourages people to shape their own lives with intention. In paragraph 19, he criticizes news and the post office because he sees them as distractions that pull people away from that deeper way of living. This highlights his belief that too much focus on outside noise can take away our ability to experience life fully.

I love how you highlight Thoreau’s emphasis on time as something precious and fleeting “critical hour” feels like a wake-up call to really think about our days more carefully. It’s almost as though Thoreau is challenging us to see even the smallest choices we make as significant pieces of a larger, more meaningful picture. Your reflection on how you’ve used your time so far reminds me that I often neglect those little details, moments that, when added up, might reveal if I’m truly living in a way that aligns with my aspirations. Time is such an interesting concept and deserves to be talked about.

[whippoorwill]

In the book I mentioned earlier, My Side of the Mountain, the main character spends his first few days in the woods, waking up to the loud call of the whippoorwill instead of the usual city traffic. His only neighbors are the Baron weasel, and like Thoreau, he spends his days foraging and observing the wildlife around him. I believe he would deeply appreciate and resonate with Harivansa’s quote: “An abode without birds is like meat without seasoning.”

Hi Catie!

I find your comment very though provoking. Before reading Thoreau, I had misconceptions that he was a man that stayed in his cabin in the woods, only observing nature around him, supporting pacifism and peace. While, Thoreau does tend to write often about the benefits of having respect for the people and places around us, he is radical in his social ideals. Not only did Thoreau write to promote peace, he was an active abolitionist and wrote about the social justice issues of his time. Thoreau’s minimalistic mindset led him to demote the social hierarchies abroad that were causing lower classes more pain. I find Thoreau a contradiction to the man I had in my mind as he calls out the bourgeoise. In some ways I think this makes Thoreau deeply revolutionary in his thinking.

Hi Grace,

I hadn’t really considered how Thoreau’s view of God might shape his ideas in Walden until now. It’s fascinating to think about how his perspective on the divine connects to his deep emphasis on the present moment. This small moment is so powerful for those who share the same beliefs, but I think what is even more compelling is that the message holds true even for those who don’t share the same beliefs. Spiritual experiences can come in any form but all start by fulling embracing the present moment. I think you are exactly right that it serves as a reminder to focus on the present, because this part of the text really did make me stop and reflect on all of the different aspects that go into being able to live in the moment.

[both air and water being perfectly still, but the sky overcast, mid-afternoon had all the serenity of evening, and the wood-thrush sang around, and was heard from shore to shore. A lake like this is never smoother than at such a time; and the clear portion of the air above it being shallow and darkened by clouds, the water, full of light and reflections, becomes a lower heaven itself so much the more important.]

I resonate with Thoreau’s physical descriptions of the place that he resides. It is affirming me as the reader the Thoreau practices what he writes about in Walden in noticing the little moments and highlighting the beauty of the natural world. The description that Thoreau includes throughout ‘Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” also provides a refreshing transition for the reader as Thoreau expresses a lot of his own opinions throughout the text. This passage struck me as a moment of calm and “perfectly still” just as Thoreau writes within the a text so full as Walden. 

When I was reading this passage, this sentence stood out to me because Thoreau claimed that his cabin was fit for the gods, which is quite a bold statement! I completely agree with you—it seems that he was extremely proud of his cabin, and rightfully so. After all, it was something he created with his own hands! I also love how he feels it’s worthy of a divine being.

I agree with you here, however I do wish to add a little to your comment. I believe that in this instance Thoreau is not necessarily saying that working for ones self is greater than working for another, or employing someone to work for you. Rather, he meant that one should enjoy their work in the moment, appreciate the world around them, and not dwell on retirement funds. to live deliberately is to live in the moment.