Thoreau

This piece of Thoreau’s writing was bit obscure and hard for me to grasp fully, but I think that in terms of responsibilities and relationship, he has two main things to say: simplicity and reality. Thoreau seems to prefer to live a life not of delusions and distractions, but rather a life stripped of trivial specificities and details that many are so consumed with. Severing our wants and perhaps even needs to stick to a comfort zone of regularity and routine, we should instead view life with certain alacrity that will take us farther in life. Life was not given to us so that we can spend most of it in an illusionary perspective, and Thoreau seems to want us to shake off any burdens of frequent changes and fluctuations in our lives that may weigh us down, and instead focus on viewing this world with an accuracy that will stress reality. Relationships and responsibilities have a certain limit in this lifestyle, as I think that Thoreau thinks that both of them require/have a certain degree of specific concerns and vague uncertainty that we can’t figure out immediately. Instead of being absorbed with the many connections and obligations that we may have with either people or objects, we should attempt to have equanimity in everything so that we won’t get swept away by concerns and instabilities. I disagree with Thoreau, partly perhaps because I didn’t really understand him, and partly because I think that we should delve into every detail and change in life. I admit that Thoreau is right on how we mustn’t choose to withdraw into a shell of false protection, but I don’t think that in order to live a life based on reality, we need to choose simplicity.