Living Deliberately
Thoreau wrotethe following of his experience at Walden:
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
What do you think Thoreau means by this?
Do you think that you live "deliberately"? Do you think that Chris McCandless was living "deliberately"?
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
What do you think Thoreau means by this?
Do you think that you live "deliberately"? Do you think that Chris McCandless was living "deliberately"?
posted by Kristin L at 5:59 AM
7 Comments:
I agree with what Matt said. Thoreau believed that people had stopped appreciating what the world had to offer. Like Matt said people were going through the motions and not living life to its fullest potential. Each person must make each day worthwhile. Thoreau attempted to never let a day pass him. He lived each day with a purpose to learn something new. In "Civil Disobedience" Thoreau makes a night in jail an experience to learn about society and life in general. The key to thoreau's life was that he never took andything for granted. He valued every partof life no matter how small it was. Chris McCandless valued life in the same way (deliberately). He appreciated each berry that slid down his throat, and worshiped each moment he survived in the tundra. Chris even worshiped his last few moments on Earth, although they were most likely extremely painful. I try to live my life deliberately, however i'm not as successful as Thoreau and Chris were. I try to live deliberately by striving and achieving my goals in life. I think it is hard for people today to live deliberately because we have so much to take for granted. If i can live my life half as deliberately as Thoreau and Chris I will consider myself lucky.
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I agree with Matt about most of what he said. Including the meaning of living deliberately, Chris McCandless living deliberately (and to the fullest), and how school can take the deliberation out of the way you live your life. I think that everyone needs to try a bit harder to live life deliberately. Anyone may think that they are living life to the fullest, but I think that they are fooling themselves. I know I need to work on my deliberation towards life, but when someone has an obligation (or in most students' cases many obligations) living life to its fullest can be very difficult if not impossible.
It is important to live deliberately. I agree with what Amanda said. The idea of living life to the fullest could be different for everyone. Thoreau thought living deliberately meant living in the woods. For another person, living deliberately could mean being an amazing athlete. It could also mean being very strong in academics. Chris McCandless lived his life deliberately. He wandered out be himself in the Alaskan wilderness, and he survived for more then one hundred days. It is two bad he died at such a young age. Although, living twenty four years deliberately is better than living ninety years in quiet desperation. I try to live my life deliberately. However, I think I could try harder. Chris McCandless and Thoreau definitely lived their lives to the fullest. They had a goal and they went after it. I need to work on living more deliberately. Sometimes its hard because we all have our limits.
I agree with Molly about each person has a different way of living deliberately. Chris McCandless lived deliberately and died before he could really make a difference. I think that people will do better to live a short fulfilling life than a long life with no meaning to it. I think Chris lived a deliberate short life. I also agree with a Cassy. Living deliberately is like living life to the fullest but that was not all Thoreau was trying to find. The world has something to teach everyone and it seems that Thoreau was trying to find that as well. Thoreau seemed to be trying to define and separate what consumes the world: greed and necessity. By going into the woods, he seemed to be able to find the difference and change his life so he was living his life to the fullest and deliberately. I think I try to live deliberately but there is always room for improvement. I try to life with a purpose instead of letting life pass idly by. I do not always doing that though. However, when thinking of some of the activities that the human race does it is so mind numbing that I want to make a change and live deliberately.
Like many other people have said, I agree with Matt as well. I think he made a very good point by saying Thoreau wanted to live his life to the fullest. He wanted to get away from the things that everyday people rely so heavily on and really prove that you could live without them and still be content with the life you made for yourself. These "things" have made Thoreau so caught up that like he said he realizes he has not lived and plans on getting himself to stop relying on material things while he lives in the woods. I think that I live on the edge of being deliberate and not. For example when I set goals for myself I do everything in my power to achieve the goals I set. When I injured my knee a year and a half ago i went to physical therapy every other day for a year. It was hard work but I had it in my head that i was going to get back. Also when it comes to school I strive to be the best student I can be. Although sometimes when the situation gets tough or I can't find the time I slack off a bit. For example I need to talk to college coaches about playing for them and attending their school but I have been too caught up with school and soccer I have not found the time. I think that Chris McCandless did live deliberately because he had the goal in his mind that he was going to live without the everyday essentials of life and he proved for a little bit anyways that he could do it. Although things didn't end up as planned, he was very pleased with his accomplishments of living on his own and everything that came with it.
Many people today do not have the ability to just live off of nature like people used to way back. I think that Thoreau and Chris wanted to live life to the fullest and see if they could survive and learn from the wilderness. I think most people today including myself, do not live diliberately and take advantage or our resources because as we all know, our lives are much easier than they used to be for others way back. Technology is a big reason why people do live this way because any information about anything we want to know is right there in our hands but it's our decision to decide what we want to do with it.
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