Over the last couple of weeks, my American Literature class here at Western Michigan University has been making our way through Henry David Thoreau's memoir Walden and discussing, in great detail, his themes and purpose for writing the book. If you're unfamiliar with Walden, all you really need to know is that it's Thoreau's chronicling of his experience living in "nature" in a cabin in the woods for two years, two months, and two days. Essentially, his entire message throughout the book is that he's advocating for living a simpler life. He, of course, executed this idea by isolating himself the woods (even if he was only a couple of miles from town) and staying away from the consumerism of modern life. Today, in class, I was asked to consider what I could cut out of my life to make it simpler, and so I've continued to think about that.
Naturally, as a stressed, exhausted college student, I defaulted to cutting out some of the excessive credits I'm currently taking. Right now, I'm struggling my way through eighteen credits, and I know more people than I probably should who are struggling even more than I am. Fortunately for me, I'm in a position where I can comfortably drop down to fourteen credits in the upcoming semester, and allow myself some breathing room. When it comes to scheduling issues and overbearing workloads, I've been trying to keep in mind not to overdo it if I can avoid it. If you find yourself in a similar situation, don't feel embarrassed or ashamed to try and take some of that weight off your shoulders in the upcoming weeks or months. I sincerely doubt anyone could ever blame you for that, and it's a pretty simple way to take those steps into simplifying life. If you're interested in such a thing, of course.
Something important that someone also said in class was the idea of cutting out social media for a simpler life because people "seemed to be getting worse and worse". While I usually take the route of cutting out individuals if they're toxic in my social life, I can totally understand and support this course of action. There is, in my experience, no quicker way to make life easier than to eliminate from it the things that make you unhappy, and if going on social media makes you unhappy, then, by all means, cut it out. There is almost nothing in our lives that we can justify participating in if it makes us miserable, and with the current state of things in the world, I'm far from shocked that social media (or social interactions in general) are a source of stress right now.
When it comes down to it, a "simpler" life just seems to be a happier one. Henry David Thoreau was dissatisfied with his life, so he moved out to Walden. And two years later, when he became dissatisfied with that, he left. If there are people in your life who are making you consistently unhappy (in an unreconcilable way, of course), you have every right to continue your life without them. If your current workload is is, quite literally, too much for you, then cut it down enough to give yourself some breathing room. As my professor said today, "living to work isn't really living." Thoreau wrote Walden to emphasize the virtues of living a simpler life, and the more one looks into it, the more it seems to just be a happier life. That, I think, is something we can all strive toward.
