The Importance Of Life In Walden By Henry David Thoreau

In Henry David Thoreau’s book, “Walden”, he not only writes about his own experience, or so called “experiment” of leaving human society to gain more spiritual and self awareness, but he also discusses the importance of not being a slave to mainstream society. Thoreau had the ideology that one’s happiness does not depend on the possessions they own nor the luxurious life they may live, but rather living a minimalist and stress free life that revolves around being self aware and surrounded by nature. He talks about the importance of living your life in a manner that fits for you, rather than living the life that society deems as appropriate. He directly talked to younger generations in his book, explaining that we as young people should not

While life now is completely different than when Thoreau wrote, “Walden”, the concept of what he is advising is the same. We have the ability to live minimalist lives while still having food in our mouths and a bed to sleep in, it just does not have to be the absolute best of the best. He explains that having unnecessary materialistic items only give us temporary happiness and satisfaction for a while, until we want more. Then it just becomes a never ending cycle of wanting more and more, all just to prove we that we have the ability to buy nice

While I could never be completely isolated for the rest of my life, I now firmly believe living a simplistic and minimalist life surrounded by nature is what will make me feel most alive and happy. My generation by far has the absolute most stress on them and we are constantly being told what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Life is now being treated as a job rather than a simple existence, and it is not something I will continue to support. This may mean I will never have a fancy home, car, or clothes, but at the end of the day I’ll have my happiness and my sanity and that is all I need. Saying this book changed my life may be a bit of an overstatement, but it's definitely not false. I had the chance to really think about what I believe is most important in life and what I want to do with my existence here on earth. I am now confident in the decision that I can take my life into my own hands and not have to depend on a single person or item for anything, and that gives me an immense amount of joy. I have officially started a new beginning with a new mindset, and I will never look