What Does Walden Have to Do with My Life Today?

Did you read Walden, or Life in the Woods* when you were in school?  It's pretty ubiquitous on high school reading lists, which makes it surprising that plenty of people misunderstand Henry David Thoreau's classic.

The 1854 book has gained a reputation as being about a man who dropped out of society to live as a hermit in the woods.  But that's not the point at all.

Thoreau actually lived in a time somewhat like ours, when technology was advancing faster than ever before.  (It was the era of increasing railroad travel and a huge shift in population from rural farm work to urban, machine-centered factories.)  Partisan politics were acrimonious and threatened to rip the country apart.  (The US Civil War was only a few years away.)  There was a worldwide pandemic.  (Tuberculosis, widespread and far deadlier than COVID, ended Thoreau's life when he was just 42.)

Walden is the perfect book to read or re-read this year.

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Understanding essentials

Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond was tiny – 10 feet by 15 feet, with one door, two windows, and a fireplace.  His building materials were culled in part from a disassembled shanty, most of which he carried to the pond on his back to save hiring a cart.  His furnishings included a bed, table, desk, oil lamp, and three chairs.  With the addition of a few tools and kitchen items, the simplest of clothes, writing materials and a handful of books, his temporary home (he lived there for just over two years) was complete, ready for the experiment of discovering what were the essentials of life.  "My greatest skill has been to want but little," he wrote.

Author Jen Tota McGivney says that scarcity was the point.

Thoreau pared down to the basics to learn what added to his life and what subtracted from it.  If he could spend the bare minimum on what he needed, he could work the bare minimum to afford it.  Then he could devote more time to what mattered to him:  to write, study nature, advocate for abolition [of slavery], and enjoy time with his family and neighbors.

One of Thoreau's ideas that has stayed with me is his economic viewpoint.  The true cost of anything, he decided, "is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run."

Let's illustrate.  When we buy something, we don't just spend money.  We spend time – to earn the money, of course, but also to maintain and repair the item.  We spend more money to insure the item.  If we need a big house for all of our possessions, we spend even more money to buy, maintain, repair, upgrade, and insure the house.  We may trap ourselves in a job we hate, or a long commute, in order to earn all of that money.  The car or other transportation we use to get to work also costs money and time.  So does the work wardrobe.  We may trade even more of our life's time and energy to finance trips and entertainment as we try to find some respite from the stress of our work, or we may trade away true leisure and rest to keep working harder and longer.

All of this may take us away from the lives we'd really like to live, all for the sake of possessions we don't really need.

Thoreau's experiment is an inspiration for us to embark on some experiments of our own, so that we can pursue another kind of wealth than the one our society places such value on.  Thoreau discovered that "a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone."

The abundance of minimalism

Perhaps we think this minimalist option limits us.  "I want an abundant life," we say.  Of course, we're usually motivated by FOMO (the fear of missing out) and the YOLO (you only live once) mindset.  The feeling is that you mustn't miss anything, because life won't be worth living if you don't do it all and have it all.

What did Thoreau do with the time and energy he saved by choosing a minimalist life?  He was active on the Underground Railroad, and his work as an abolitionist later inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King.  He was a good friend and neighbor, famous for his carpentering skills and for his annual melon party, when he invited dozens of people to share his harvest.  He made detailed observations of the wildlife in and around Walden Pond, and wrote extensively about his wilderness travels and his musings on civilization, morals, spirituality, and what it means to be human.

Or he could have owned more stuff.

Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.

Henry David Thoreau

As a minimalist, I have an abundant life.  I have an abundance of space to relax and spread out.  I have an abundance of energy to work on projects I care about.  I have an abundance of time to say yes to new knowledge and experiences.  Instead of an abundance of possessions, debt, and chores, I have an abundance of life.

Why not follow Thoreau's example and try some experiments in living with less?  (Look for even more ideas here.)  Stop letting our culture make decisions for you about what matters, and discover for yourself, as Thoreau did.