"Where I lived, and What I lived for"

Thoreau, Henry(1854). Where I Lived, and What I Lived for.

While rummaging through my backpack, I came across one of Henry Thoreau’s essays that I printed out a while back.  In "Where I lived and What I lived for," Thoreau offers us an explanation as to why he decided to leave mainstream society. “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 they had to teach, and not, when I came to die.” Perhaps, Thoreau had decided that the best way to live life was by living fully immersed into it without the distractions of material goods. Simplicity of life was to be his means to gain, or grasp his purpose in life. I truly admire his efforts; finding a way to become much less dependent upon industrialization isn’t an easy task to do, but being able to live our lives away from the pressures of media, can really become a wonderful journey in finding ways to be more in tune with our senses.  

Group dynamic

Today’s discussion was great; being physically outside from our typical class setting, was relaxing. I really enjoyed the group discussions we’ve had the past two days, talking about ones feelings with classmates isn’t the easiest thing to do, but I appreciated the honesty. In all sincerity, I didn’t think this was going to end well, but I was proven wrong. I think this worked better than our normal group discussions, I’m not saying they weren’t good to begin with, but listening to students who normally don’t speak--especially myself--was unexpectedly rewarding.