Best Way
I finished the documentary about Henry David Thoreau last night. I may have to go back and reread his work. I first encountered Thoreau in high school with Emerson, but they were simply characters in a parade of characters as we marched through the history of US literature and philosophy. I don’t recall reading On Walden Pond or Civil Disobedience, but I probably read parts of them. Most of it, like thoughts on transcendentalism, simply became part of my patchwork quilt of a brain.
Something must have clicked, however, because I certainly am a lover of nature and I’ve tried to be a close observer and friend. I think native Americans had a much more harmonious approach to the land and nature than did the rapacious settlers who took over. I think slavery was evil and a stain on our society. I thought the civil disobedience of the civil rights movement and feminism was on point, and I demonstrated against the war in Vietnam.
In looking back, I’m glad my heroes were men of letters rather than men of money. Of course, I’m glad I managed to make some, and even keep some, but it pleases me more that I know the rhythms of the wild things and feel at home in the woods and hills. Although, I do subscribe to the idea that I should judge not lest I be judged. So, I’ll acknowledge we all have to make our way through the world as best we can and this was simply the best way for me.