Walden Wisdom

To many in the mid-nineteenth century, New England would’ve been the entire world.  For Henry David Thoreau, self-proclaimed weather man and transcendentalist, New England was but a particle in the vast expanse of the universe. 

There is obviously much more to the world than the six quaint states of New England.  To some, spending two years in solitude in the woods of Walden Pond would make the five square miles that Thoreau occupied, would make those miles seem like the entire world.  Walden was a small part of Massachusetts, a smaller part of the United States, and a microscopic fleck in the Milky Way. 

Thoreau’s words of wisdom might be wasted on such non-intellects, but would appeal to his educated audience, which was composed of philosophers, Transcendentalists, and literary minds.  Though Walden was meant to be an account of his time living in the woods, Thoreau (the genius he was) made it unintentionally one of the greatest works of literature of all time.  The subtle, yet bold aphorisms, the simplicity, and the picture of Thoreau is burned into your mind.  His accounts give view to his beliefs and what he thinks is important; nature, living simply away from want of material goods, and the straightforwardness of the earth. 

One can hardly read Walden without wanting to visit each and every nook and cranny of the globe.  The emotion behind his statements proclaiming, “Travel! Explore! Discover!” can’t help but lodge themselves in your brain.  “The universe is wider than our views of it” (Thoreau 260) just begs you to go out and view everything.  In the conclusion to Walden Thoreau says that the goose is more of a traveller than people, for the goose has breakfast in Canada, lunch in Ohio, and a quiet supper down south.  How can Thoreau have the authority to tell us, his beloved and cherished readers, to explore the world when he stayed within a five-mile radius (maybe 10, max) for two years?  It is his cunning wisdom and ethos that make you want to never stop travelling. 

Walden has as many claims as the actual pond has pebbles.  Live simply, don’t be lazy and buy a basket when you can make one yourself, stop and smell the coffee once in a while (but for him it was probably the wildflowers – no Starbucks in Walden).  However, the one that stands out the most is Thoreau’s obvious adoration for nature.  Even the rain that keeps him indoors, will benefit him later, when his bean harvest is plentiful.     

Do not build your own fences and walls; keep your life and soul as open so that the wind may pass freely through it (not a Thoreau quote, a me quote).  To be honest, with all his nature-loving-woods-soul-cleansing shtick, Thoreau would’ve made an excellent hippie.  For all we know, hippies got their ideology from Walden.