Walden Lives

I just read a fantastic Jonathan Hiskes article in Grist.com on Henry David Thoreau and climate change and felt compelled to respond.

Like Hiskes, I too am just about to finish rereading Walden at the moment, first time in years. I noticed Thoreau's stunt aspect as well, but I'm reminded also of a bigger philosophy to his experiment that has less to do with environmentalism, economics, and book deals, and more to do with a personal philosophy on living.
As in, Thoreau was deeply self-aware, constantly observing, analyzing, and experimenting with self and world alike. This playful approach can be applied to urban living, rural living, and everything in between. It's about keeping our eyes wide open and being courageous enough to try out something different than the norm--life itself as a grand experiment that's never over.

I'm reminded of how Edward Abbey, the anarchist enviro-hero and desert rat, also lived in Hoboken and worked in Brooklyn for a period. Similarly, a friend living in Manhattan told me he saw the city as his garden, a place of mindfulness and spiritual connection, words more often used for places like Walden and the Colorado Rockies where I live, not Times Square.

As the world continues to shrink and as environments continue to change, we'll need to adapt and learn new ways to interact with each other and nature. Thoreau not only offers a specific example of a way to live more simply and sustainably, but he also offers advice on how to go about rethinking and redesigning individual and societal life in general (whether we come to the same conclusions as him or not) and that's something we'll all be doing a lot more of in the months and years to come.