Monsanto Lake

“I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time.  To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating.  I love to be alone.  I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden

I think one reason that I find the work of Thoreau so magical is because of the many things I feel we have in common, I too love to be alone.  Is it indicative of a selfish person?  I would hope not.  I personally don’t consider myself a selfish person.  I would like to think of it as a trait of someone that is independent and a survivor.  I am not what I would call a very materialistic person.  I am just a simple man who isn’t fond of drama and keeps negativity at a great distance.

In 1845 Thoreau built a cabin upon the shores of Walden Pond, a lake in Concord Massachusetts.  For the next two years, two months, and two days he would record his experiences as he learned to eliminate the material and spiritual details that trespass upon our happiness.  I can’t help but think what conclusion he would have come to today in a world dependent on modern technology?  Would he have been able to pull it off?  Yes I think he could have.

Walden: Life In the Woods was published in 1854.  It was a reflection upon the two years he spent living the simple life as a way of declaring self-reliance and independence.  Some folks have even referred to it as a manual for self-reliance.  During this time he wrote his first book, “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers”.

Monsanto Lake

“I went to the woods because I wanted 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.  I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary.” Henry David Thoreau

I can’t emphasis enough, how envious of Thoreau I am.  In a situation such as he created, I would think that one would learn to love themselves.  I am a firm believer that if one wants to succeed in life they must learn to love themselves.  I have spent two weeks by myself in the woods living the “simple life” and learned a lot about myself during that time.  I can only imagine what one would learn in two years.

I suppose though that this “alone time” could be detrimental to some folks suffering from depression.  It is hard for those folks to be alone and some definitely don’t need all that time to think.  If those people could train themselves to live this time alone and at the same time deal with depression I think it would be very beneficial to them.  Maybe, just maybe it would be a good avenue to use to defeat their demons and learn how to keep them away.

Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you enjoyed it and the pics I shot.  The pictures are of Monsanto Lake located in the St. Joe Park located in St. Francois county near Park Hills, MO.  I could just see myself living in a cabin on the shores of the lake for two years.  Don’t forget to spread the love.

Monsanto Lake

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”  Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Life in the Woods