Change of Pace

Reflecting further on Walden, I realized how alike Thoreau and I are. Although it is extremely difficult for me to simply do nothing and not be engulfed in the excesses of life, I connect with his fear of being caught in a rut. Feeling trapped, especially in a meaningless existence, is one of my greatest fears, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” (Thoreau, 8).

I define meaningful in an unconventional way, putting more emphasis on doing things that make me happy. This definition may seem obvious, however many people surprisingly do not feel that this is enough to live a “meaningful” life. I don’t think anyone wants to die knowing that they have not lived a full life, “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 it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau, 65). Experiencing and gaining the most out of life is a necessity for me.

I, like Thoreau, enjoy a change of scenery often. Especially when I was a freshman in college, I was excited to make an entirely new batch of friends. During the summer before I left for Carnegie, I grew ridiculously bored with my high school friends in anticipation of all the new people I could befriend. Even now, if I am in college without breaks to go home for an extended period of time, I start becoming anxious and bored with my surroundings. Most notably, the period between the first day of classes and Thanksgiving break, I am miserably bored and become easily annoyed because I have been stuck in the same place with the same people for far too long. A similar situation arises during the summer when I’m home in New York. This may make me sound like a selfish or uncaring person, but it’s simply the way I feel. Just as I cannot sit still for an hour, I cannot stay in the same place surrounded by the same people for a long time.

I am truly a result of the modern generation: I need constant stimulation and excitement, otherwise I am not happy. Hence, my busy and active life gives me a sense of meaning. I feel as though I am actively doing something and making a difference in the world, however small. As I stated earlier, I want to experience everything I can in life, “I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one” (Thoreau, 217). I never want to be trapped or caught by anything or anyone; unbounded freedom is my closest friend. Experiencing new places, foods, people, etc are what gives my life meaning. The opportunity to do something new and exciting is what motivates me every morning.