Journal Entry

January 25, 2011
Last weekend, I had gone on a retreat with my church group. In many ways, I expected it to be a similar experience to the one Thoreau describes in Walden. The retreat would take place in a remote location almost two hours away from campus and would last for three days. Although I would be with eighty other people most of the time, I was hoping to find some time alone to think about Thoreau. To be honest, I was determined to use this opportunity as a subject for one of my journal entries. I wasn’t expecting it to give me a real understanding of Walden. However, after going through the experience, I actually started to sort of appreciate Thoreau’s experiment.
I have to admit, the retreat was different from what I expected to be. Yes, I was cut off from technology and stuck in the middle of a wooded area, but that was about the only thing that was similar to my experience and Thoreau’s. Being surrounded by people, it was very difficult to find some time alone or even feel alone. I had easy access to food and water, as it was obviously already prepared and provided for us. I did not have to build my own shelter since the cabins were already there. However, despite the fact that I was covered in terms of basic needs, the retreat was still difficult compared to life back at home (or school).
For starters, the bus that was taking us broke down in the middle of the road. The smoke that filled the inside of the bus caused most of us to panic, and we evacuated the bus. Standing in the middle of the road, we were all freezing. Being so used to the warmth provided by the bus’s heating system, the unexpected detour was enough to make us miss the comfort of our own homes.
Things were not much better when we got there. There was no means of heating inside the cabins. Sleeping was difficult because I kept waking to the cold.
Not having internet connection was also frustrating. I never realized how attached I was to these connections. For instance, that weekend was when a soccer match that I really wanted to watch had taken place. It was difficult trying to keep myself from wondering about the results. I was surprised that I couldn’t keep myself from thinking about these things for a mere three days.
I had read from Walden prior to the retreat and I started to realize how extremely difficult Thoreau’s experiment must have been. Thoreau had spent over two years at Walden and he did not even have the “conveniences” that I had. I think I sometimes (rather subconsciously) dismissed Thoreau’s experiment. But simple living was more difficult than I thought. “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.” To an extent, this statement could apply to the purpose of going on a church retreat. In certain ways, I may have not achieved it as successfully as Thoreau had.