It seems to me that no self-respecting blog concerning anything "cabin" related can exist for very long without having some commentary on Henry David Thoreau's classic work, WALDEN, where Thoreau builds his own shelter and lives/reflects on life and many of its associated afflictions... even though he himself was pretty well taken care of and wasn't all THAT far out in the woods... but I digress...
I have read Walden several times. This will be the third time in completion, but the umpteenth time I have visited its pages. I would like to think that Thoreau would forgive me for blogging about his masterpiece of transcendentalist independence, but I am a little nervous that he would shake his bearded head at the fact that I am listening to it as an audiobook on an iPod... Whoops! Anyway, back to the subject at hand... To me it seems that one can gauge the complexity and value of a book or work by the diversity of perspective it can elicit in its readers. For example, I view the Bible as a magnificent work of art, not so much because of any of the messages it propounds, but because it seems that just about every time I read it I learn something more, either about myself, the world around me, or society at large. That, my friends, is power! You find different things at different times because of what you bring to the table. Likewise, the first time I read Walden I was dabbling in Hegelian philosophy and was seeking his system. How can a man from Thoreau's background get to these conclusions? Needless to say, I got more questions than answers out of that reading! The next time I was enthralled in the beauty of relationships (interpersonal, not just romantic...) and ended up being a little upset with how he eschewed interpersonal connectedness. Well, it turns out that Thoreau doesn't really throw this to the wayside, but he does think about it much differently than I did, which raises the supreme irony of the fact I was upset with him for thinking independently! So much for interpersonal relations I guess!
This reading has already proven to be vastly different. My situation coming into it is different and there are a few situations in my life that are influencing it greatly. One of which I will introduce shortly:
Rose and I have three neighbors. All of them have proven themselves to be kind and they all appreciate Ennis's toddler-ness, which is GREAT because Ennis can't be anything else right now! One of our neighbors, Ted, has slowly been watching his wife of 40+ years approach the twilight of her life. Rose has been more conversant with him than I have been, but the fatigue of this process is plain to see. Tonight we watched as the ambulance brought Ted's wife up to the hospital; we walked over to talk with him a little and see if we could help out. As usual in these situations, I was a weepy mess and Rose was the put together one. It was touching to see someone who had previously seemed so strong and tough become so tender and fragile. It reminded me of a passage in J.R.R. Tolkien's book of mythology The Silmarillion. *I know that I am going to sounds SUPER nerdy here, but stick with me!
In this book Tolkien explains the complexities of the world he created for the other books and the origins of the different peoples. He explains the elves, who are immortal, the men, who are mortal, the dwarves, the goblins, etc... One of his stories has to do with a unique love story and a deep insight into life. It seems that at some point in the history of Middle Earth an elf woman fell in love with a mortal man. They got married, had kids, and eventually they all had to make a decision: to be mortal or immortal. The way that Tolkien pitches both sides is tremendous. Immortality gives you constancy across the eons, it gives you perspective beyond a doubt, it gives you clarity of mind and temperance of spirit, it gives you perfection in craft and skill, etc, etc... It seems like a no-brainer! Immortal it is!
BUT
Mortality gives you passion, mortality gives you the fire of life that burns so hot that it can't help but burn out, mortality gives you intensity, individuality, creativity beyond the sensical, spontaneity, freedom from the chains of time through your own departure, it gives you pain, but it also gives you love and peace and happiness beyond measure.
One of the children chose to become immortal and became the leader of the elves. One of the children chose to become mortal and became the greatest king of men ever recorded. Both chose wisely, both lived honorably, only one died with cause and sacrifice.
That may seem pretty dark and deep, but this came to me again tonight as I watched Ted say goodbye to his beloved and ask himself the question whether he would see her again in this world or in the next. I thought about this tonight as I played with my beautiful family and my little boy who is so full of life.
What does this have to do with Walden you might ask? Well, honestly, not much, but as I read it this time, I will be filtering it through this as well as many other things. My filter will help distinguish what I get out of this project, and I believe that it is paramount to taking on a project to know what glass you are looking at it through.
What it does have to do with Walden can be broken down to a few things that are clear to me right now (I am sure that there will be several more things to add later!): live your life with some sense of freedom and consider your life anew each day.
I will be trying to do these things as I go through the book and I hope to hear your comments on my musings! I encourage any of you who are reading this post to take up the book (or audiobook) and experience Walden again for the first time. There are several books I will be working my way through again and hope to be sharing my thoughts with anyone who is willing to listen!
"To be awake is to be alive." -H.D. Thoreau
I have read Walden several times. This will be the third time in completion, but the umpteenth time I have visited its pages. I would like to think that Thoreau would forgive me for blogging about his masterpiece of transcendentalist independence, but I am a little nervous that he would shake his bearded head at the fact that I am listening to it as an audiobook on an iPod... Whoops! Anyway, back to the subject at hand... To me it seems that one can gauge the complexity and value of a book or work by the diversity of perspective it can elicit in its readers. For example, I view the Bible as a magnificent work of art, not so much because of any of the messages it propounds, but because it seems that just about every time I read it I learn something more, either about myself, the world around me, or society at large. That, my friends, is power! You find different things at different times because of what you bring to the table. Likewise, the first time I read Walden I was dabbling in Hegelian philosophy and was seeking his system. How can a man from Thoreau's background get to these conclusions? Needless to say, I got more questions than answers out of that reading! The next time I was enthralled in the beauty of relationships (interpersonal, not just romantic...) and ended up being a little upset with how he eschewed interpersonal connectedness. Well, it turns out that Thoreau doesn't really throw this to the wayside, but he does think about it much differently than I did, which raises the supreme irony of the fact I was upset with him for thinking independently! So much for interpersonal relations I guess!This reading has already proven to be vastly different. My situation coming into it is different and there are a few situations in my life that are influencing it greatly. One of which I will introduce shortly:
Rose and I have three neighbors. All of them have proven themselves to be kind and they all appreciate Ennis's toddler-ness, which is GREAT because Ennis can't be anything else right now! One of our neighbors, Ted, has slowly been watching his wife of 40+ years approach the twilight of her life. Rose has been more conversant with him than I have been, but the fatigue of this process is plain to see. Tonight we watched as the ambulance brought Ted's wife up to the hospital; we walked over to talk with him a little and see if we could help out. As usual in these situations, I was a weepy mess and Rose was the put together one. It was touching to see someone who had previously seemed so strong and tough become so tender and fragile. It reminded me of a passage in J.R.R. Tolkien's book of mythology The Silmarillion. *I know that I am going to sounds SUPER nerdy here, but stick with me!
BUT
Mortality gives you passion, mortality gives you the fire of life that burns so hot that it can't help but burn out, mortality gives you intensity, individuality, creativity beyond the sensical, spontaneity, freedom from the chains of time through your own departure, it gives you pain, but it also gives you love and peace and happiness beyond measure.
One of the children chose to become immortal and became the leader of the elves. One of the children chose to become mortal and became the greatest king of men ever recorded. Both chose wisely, both lived honorably, only one died with cause and sacrifice.That may seem pretty dark and deep, but this came to me again tonight as I watched Ted say goodbye to his beloved and ask himself the question whether he would see her again in this world or in the next. I thought about this tonight as I played with my beautiful family and my little boy who is so full of life.
What does this have to do with Walden you might ask? Well, honestly, not much, but as I read it this time, I will be filtering it through this as well as many other things. My filter will help distinguish what I get out of this project, and I believe that it is paramount to taking on a project to know what glass you are looking at it through.
What it does have to do with Walden can be broken down to a few things that are clear to me right now (I am sure that there will be several more things to add later!): live your life with some sense of freedom and consider your life anew each day.
I will be trying to do these things as I go through the book and I hope to hear your comments on my musings! I encourage any of you who are reading this post to take up the book (or audiobook) and experience Walden again for the first time. There are several books I will be working my way through again and hope to be sharing my thoughts with anyone who is willing to listen!
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