An Experiment In Living
As a young boy Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was often jokingly referred to as "odd stick" because of his shy and serious demeanor. While other boys eagerly sought each other out to play, Henry preferred instead to be alone and explore the forests, ponds, and fields surrounding his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts. One pond in particular-Walden Pond-became Henry's favorite place to visit. His love and knowledge of the outdoors earned him the reputation as "one who not did fear mud or water." Henry's parents had taught all their children to love and appreciate nature and to enjoy all that it had to offer. For Henry, those lessons would come to mean a great deal as he grew older.
After graduating from Harvard University, Henry returned to Concord where he taught school, and later worked at his father's pencil factory. In the meantime, he made the acquaintance of another Concord resident, the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson was the author of one of Henry's favorite essays, Nature. Emerson believed that experiencing nature enabled a person to see "the miraculous in the common."
Henry soon began to visit Emerson at his home, where he met other writers, thinkers, and philosophers known as the "Transcendentalists." The Transcendentalists believed that spending time with nature allowed a person to keep better track of their conscience. This self-awareness allowed people to be true to themselves and their beliefs, and not be as concerned with worldly gain and material wealth. Henry noticed that many of the Transcendentalists kept journals in which they recorded their ideas, thoughts, and experiences. On October 22, 1837, opening a blank notebook that he had purchased, Henry wrote: "I make my first entry today." With this simple sentence, he launched one of the most important careers in the history of American literature.
Despite his new friendships and his new vocation as a man of letter, Henry grew restless. "We live meanly like ants," he wrote, and wondered what he should do with his life. Henry at last decided to undertake an "experiment in living." At the age of twenty-seven, he returned to Walden Pond, not as a visitor, but as a resident. For more than two years, between July 4, 1845 and September 6, 1847, Henry David Thoreau lived and wrote at Walden Pond. Residing in a one-room cabin that he had built himself, Thoreau was determined to live a "simple life" that was "not frittered away with detail." Instead, he hoped that by living at Walden Pond, he would come better to understand the world and his place in it.
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