“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. I did not wish to live what was not
life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was
quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to
live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to
cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it
to its lowest terms.”
~Henry David
Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods
It might have been 1854 but Henry David Thoreau
saw into the future of the world when he decided to seclude himself away at
Walden Pond. Long ago, Thoreau posed a challenge we are losing today: fight
materialism and live a simpler yet more fulfilled life. As people of today’s
globally consumerist culture, we equate happiness and fulfillment in life with
money in the bank, a car in the driveway and expensive possessions. YouTube is
filled with beauty gurus showcasing hauls of their purchased merchandise and we
are always on the lookout for the newest and most technologically advanced Smartphone.
We live in a world where we constantly want MORE MORE MORE but when is it enough?
The world is saturated with people looking
for happiness, and why shouldn’t we be. We pick up the latest self-help
bestsellers from our local bookstores or spend hours and thousands of dollars
on therapy sessions that for many, don’t tackle the issue. Last year alone we spent
approximately $118 billion on traveling and $200 billion on the latest electronics.
Is it difficult to find happiness and fulfillment in life or are we looking in
the wrong places? Thoreau was an 18th century hipster that decided to
moved into his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson’s cabin in the woods to live more
simply. His book, Walden, was part
memoir and part spiritual quest as he spent over 2 years stripped away from all
superfluous luxuries, living as part of nature and reflecting on life. He had this basic idea; in life we do not need
all the most modern advances but instead believed the more we have, the more
we want.
There is something to be said about happiness
in Thoreau’s experiment at Walden pound. The
World Happiness Report published by The Earth Institute, explains how
research shows that wealth does not necessarily equal happiness[i]. This
report launched at the United Nations, explains that although the poor who gain
wealth do experience an increase in happiness, the high-income communities only
gain momentary ‘happiness’ then quickly drift back to their usual level of fulfillment.
The citizens of countries lacking resources do gain happiness when they are
able to fulfill their basic needs and live above their usual lifestyle but what
do we westerners gain from a new salary increase or electronic toy? We were
already more than able to put a nutritious meal on the table and have a warm
bed to sleep in at night; all our basic necessities in life have long been
filled. While the stresses of poverty are gone for us, we now face many other
problems brought on by increased wealth.
“Affluence
has created its own set of afflictions and addictions. Obesity, adult-onset
diabetes, tobacco-related illnesses, eating disorders such as anorexia and
bulimia, psychosocial disorders, and addictions to shopping, TV, and gambling,
are all examples of disorders of development. So too is the loss of community,
the decline of social trust, and the rising anxiety levels associated with the
vagaries of the modern globalized economy, including the threats of
unemployment or episodes of illness not covered by health insurance in the
United States”[ii].
We put heavy faith in getting a promotion at
work, investing in a new phone or computer, which will make our lives ‘easier’,
but research shows it does not increase our happiness over time. An article in
TIME magazine references ‘consumptive happiness’. The article, The Happiness of Pursuit, by Jeffrey
Kluger explains that today in the US we gain momentary happiness from items we
reap but this positive high is not lasting[iii]. This
fleeting feeling of happiness has created a community of people looking for
happiness in all the wrong places. A possible part of the solution is to
understand that happiness may “lie not in a product … but simply in a better
understanding of the particular way Americans define happiness in the first
place”.
It’s funny that a man in the 1800s realized our
dependence on possessions, which has just progressed as an issue in today’s
world. Thoreau found that luxuries in life did not give him happiness but
distracted from it. Don’t get me wrong; technology has made life much easier. We
are able to live and commute in ways Thoreau would not have understood but what
he did know is that it would not solve all our problems. In today’s 4G world,
we live by instant gratification which is more about reaping than sowing. As
novels have become 140 character Tweets, our attention spans have shortened and
we demand things to happen instantaneously. A poll by TIME found that 25% of
women, 5% of men are taking antidepressants and 48% of women, 44% of men admit
to eating as a means to improve their moods. We are harvesting our natural resources
and tugging on every bit of them hoping to find the next big thing to fill the
void in us. Instead, we should be of putting less responsibility on the ever
dwindling natural resources and locking ourselves in our own metaphorical cabins
to self-reflect. By realizing how we define happiness we can reflect on what
actually brings us lasting fulfillment. Quality time spent with loved ones, rest
and hard work towards goals brings us a more lasting feeling of accomplishment
and happiness rather than fleeting moments of it.
Looking for happiness in all the wrong places and for instant gratification are key themes in today’s
society. We must have faith in our character and let hard work and dedication
drive us to our end goal. Enjoying the scenery during the ride is important and
where are character is strengthened. See the journey as part of the process and
live through it. We can’t live exactly the way Thoreau did in his experiment. We
can remind ourselves that when we don’t have the latest phone or when we are stuck
taking public transportation there is something to learn from it. Hard work,
dedication and proper planning will get us all to achieving our goals and equip
us to enjoy them as well. Sometimes we just need to stop and list what we are
thankful for instead of what we are missing or what would make us happier.
