Journal, Oct 31st Thinking like Thoreau

 

Thoreau – Journal 10/31/2023

A man gave up his college degrees and knowledge to transcend society and its materialistic and meaningless qualities, to seek out nature and its better experiences.  This was Thoreau, the focus of discussion in our Treks and Texts class on Tuesday Halloween.  He is an interesting man, who made a tiny minimalist cabin in a section of woods owned by Walden.  It wasn’t just a nature retreat, it was a time to empty his mind of society and really focus on himself as an independent individual.  It was far from the materialistic civilization from which he came, because he limited himself to the few items that he needed to survive.  A place alone in nature without much distraction or temptation was perfect for Thoreau, and it frankly sounds very pleasant to me, despite how different this lifestyle is from what I’m used to.  I would like to escape from staring at a screen 24/7, and from all of the cars and concrete in this modern civilization.  Getting back to our roots, back to nature, is important for people to be healthy, mindful, and grateful for the world we have.

Our activity was a scavenger hunt that sent us around the campus, finding locations that match things Thoreua said and felt.  One of his quotes was something along the lines of  “as the nation grows, so does its entities” and Thoreau criticizes their purpose.  We had to seek the college where this trade occurs, and we determined it was Neeley, as it discusses society and the population.  Another quote was “true utility of this thing is often blinded by the love of novelty and its fashionableness”, and we had to find a place of campus that had this piece.  We decided on the FAB building for its designer studies, which have the principle that people buy things like clothes because they seem fashionable and novel, even though clothes are just clothes!

Thoreau speaking poorly about the masses of people in a nation and the meaninglessness of commercial purchase made me think about the materialistic and collectivistic qualities of society, and it makes me uncomfortable.  Reading these quotes would be one thing, but engaging with these quotes as I walk outside in the cold (yet sunny) weather made me think deeper about it all.  It’s so easy to dive into the repetitive routine of everyday life, going to class and doing work and eating meals, but I find myself missing something greater, a meaningful and peaceful place in my life.  For Thoreau, it was nature where he found peace, meaningfulness, and a sense of self.  He was in the farthest place from the commercial and the materialistic, from the hordes of bustling people, where he could be mindful and tranquil.  However, is there a way for me, or for anyone in this modern world, to benefit from a similar practice to Thoreau’s?

I can’t well set down my academics and jobs to live in a cottage for some years.  I’m at a critical juncture in my career path, so risking it all so early in my life is not an option.  Perhaps I could visit a nature site for a day?  My family enjoys that sort of thing, and maybe we could even go for a week to Yellowstone or the Morton Arboretum.  The downside?  Firstly, such an experience would be short-lived, and Thoreau only saw powerful change in his life after devoting much more time to isolation in nature.  Secondly, locations designated as ‘nature’ find commercialism and civilization creeping into it from every angle, just like Abbey foresaw.  There are hordes of people visiting, gift shops and the like, and plenty of paved paths.  Nature is sheared and cleared until it looks like a prim and proper neighbor’s backyard, of which we have plenty back home.  Finally, there are mile markers and maps every five paces in each direction, as if a sensible man cannot enjoy his own way along a forest.

I should, however, look at the bigger picture in all of this.  I may be disheartened by my lack of accessibility to a true Thoreau experience, but I am familiar with how some office workers only live in two places, their cubicle and their city apartment.  I can imagine an employee in that concrete jungle only being able to find a glimpse of nature in a poster of a forest on his cubicle wall.  This is a rather unfortunate way to live, and I have more in my life than that.  If I so desire, I can go out and take a walk across TCU’s green campus, and set myself in the Veteran’s Plaza for some quiet time with the flowers and Monarch butterflies.  For this, at least, I am grateful.  Regardless, one day I still would like to feel that which Thoreau and Abbey and T. H. White got to feel when they found a completely isolated spot in nature.  Perhaps when I am much older and have the time.