�Where do we find ourselves?

For Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalists of 19th century America, this seemed to be an important question. The Transcendentalists focused heavily on this idea of finding oneself, in a place that often times made one forget about his or her own sense of belonging. In the book Walden, Henry Thoreau uses Nature as a tool to guide him toward the necessary optimism to escape the pessimism that gripped the modernizing world.

At the age of 27, Henry Thoreau left his home in Concord, Massachusetts, to deliberately live near Walden Pond for two years in solitude. His reasoning, was not very different than his fellow Romantics of 19th century America. Nature was meant to serve as a confessional; a place where one would go to collect oneself. Society was transfixed on the idea that the more one had of something, the better off one was. Thoreau felt uncomfortable with his living conditions, so he head out to find answers.

Many saw this as an act of rebellion, and that his duties were nothing more than to ‘scribble in his journal,’ and to collect specimens for his scientist friends. However, to Thoreau, this act was not of rebellion, rather of calling out society for all of the things that it was doing wrong.

For example, in Walden, Thoreau describes how the growing love of material items and luxuries brought out the worst characteristics in humans:

“He has no time to be anything but a machine."

The obsession with material items has become what we strive for, ensuring that that the more we have of something, the more it equates to wealth and respectability. Through his work, Thoreau taught others that although there was a herd-like mentality engulfing the nation, that did not constitute that it held Truth. Take the time to know yourself, listen to your wants an�d needs, not those of the people surrounding you. Become something other than a machine.

Henry Thoreau saw what modernization was doing to the people of his society and he encouraged them to seek other paths. Instead of turning to pessimistic writing, his alerts came with optimistic undertones to encourage people to see life differently. In fact, he turned to those that lived basic lives, void of the luxuries and said in regards to their lifestyle:

“it looks poorest when it is richest."

This suggests that although some people cannot keep up with all of the luxuries, it is not necessarily a bad thing because material wealth is not always really wealth. Appreciate what you have without always yearning for more. By constantly expecting and desiring more, you pull yourself away from true happiness and satisfaction, and lean toward greed. This also leaves room for contemplation. Society should ponder on this notion and realize that not all earthly productions were made for the well-being of humankind, in fact some were, distinctly destructive.

Thoreau seems to find Nature as a reflection of human character. In the chapter “Ponds,” of Walden, he says:

“How much more beautiful than our lives, how much more transparent than our characters, are they!”

Thoreau seems to look into Nature to realize the wrongdoings of humanity. He suggests that humans live muddled lives, tainted with characteristics such as envy, greed, and vices that lead one astray. Humans only show one side of themselves; the side that others are attracted to. Humans expose only that which seems pleasant, while hiding the not so desirable parts. This in turn, creates this non-transparency that Thoreau suggests.

Nature on the contrary holds Truth, innocence, purity, all which humans are less likely to portray, yet seek. This is why Thoreau insinuates that one must look to Nature to find oneself. As mentioned before, Nature serves as a confessional, a place where one can go to confess all the sins one has committed, or even to realize the sins one has committed. Since Nature took the place of Divinity, this relation to Nature gives humans hope. After all, humans do stem from Nature itself, and just how Nature has its good, Humans must have goodness as well. However it is up to one to find it within.

Nature changes, and because of that, humans have the ability to do so as well. There is no permanence to human evil, as Thoreau states:

“Things do not change; we change.”

This once again offers hope to humankind. One must recognize that which is not good with oneself and seek to make better it, only then can one live a meaningful life.

Lastly, Thoreau shares his experiences with the public, documenting his day to day life, yet accepted that not everyone could live the same way he did in solitude. In fact, he ultimately refrains from doing so himself. He understood that people would still be living in the same society which he critiqued. So he tells the people:

“I learned this at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the directions of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

His hopes were that people would take his teachings and apply them in the real world. Contrary to popular belief, a person can still live in a society that teaches him or her one thing, yet live by his or her own principles and set of morals. Thoreau expected his readers to make changes for themselves, and most importantly to always be confident in themselves above the mentality of the masses; it is only then when one can commence to rebuild him or herself for the better.

Although he preferred solitude, that did not mean that he did not understand the value of human relationships as many would believe. He simply took the time he needed to collect his thoughts in a way that he could best introduce them to the people. His desperation, often times confused with pessimism, was adequate for the experiences that he lived. By distancing himself from his life in Concord, he was better able to analyze and diagnose the growing infirmity of the nation. Thoreau saw life differently; as he subjected himself to a way of life that not many people had access to. It is for this reason, that he was the appropriate person to take advice from as he had lived both lives.

Lastly, Walden leaves the reader with an overall optimistic sensation.Thoreau states:

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

Although Thoreau did not ‘put the foundations’ under him in Walden, he did establish a profound respect for Nature, and laid a foundation for years to come.Thoreau’s source of optimism stemmed from the most familiar place to him, and that was undoubtedly, Nature. He spoke about how when he was in Nature, he realized he had not yet lived. Humans and Nature are in relation to one another, he claimed. His experiences and realizations allowed him to share with the world, the hope that it needed. People needed to know that not all was lost, that in fact, it had not begun. How much more optimistic can a piece of literature be for a time period in which changes were occurring left and right?

Wrapping up Walden, and surprising his readers, Henry Thoreau packs his bags and returns to Concord. He claims that people live their lives half-asleep, and do not really awaken. Doctors suggest to the sick that changing their scenery can sometimes alleviate them. Thoreau mocks this but saying that experience is the greatest medicine. He also makes the assumption that the average person will understand what he is trying to say, which nowadays appears to be true, but it does not bother him, since “a new day is dawning, and the sun “is a morning star” heralding a new life to come.” Whether fully understood, or only read on the surface, Thoreau has a lot to teach the world, lessons that can be helpful and applicable even today. All in all, Thoreau’s rather lack of conclusion challenges the reader to add flesh to the bone and gives him or her the liberty to wander and “get lost” in his text, in hopes that along the way, he or she is found.

So all in all, we learn from Thoreau to follow our own unique paths in our lives, regardless of what is going on around us. No, it does not mean to leave your town and live in the woods, but it does mean to stop taking things for granted, to appreciate what we have, to breathe the air, and take walks, and simply get to know the person that exists inside each an every one of us.