Thoreau told us: No matter where we are, not just in Walden Lake, "be loyal to our nature, cultivate moral sentiments, and live a brave and independent life. Regard wealth as a means of survival rather than an end. " In this way, you will always find inner peace and live leisurely. After two years of his own experience in Walden Lake, he returned to his original life.
Every time I open Walden Lake, I become calm. Because it makes me feel the tolerance of nature. Here, the needs of life are simplified, spiritual pursuit and vulgar material desire are natural, and there is no need to panic about time. The important thing is that we are living and experiencing life.
The nature depicted in Walden Lake is extremely beautiful. I control my pen for fear that underlined sentences will spread all over the book.
For example, he wrote when he split the ice on the river in winter:
There, I knelt down to drink water and looked down at the quiet living room of the fish. Soft light seems to shine on the fish through frosted glass windows, and the bright sand bottom is still the same as in summer.
At this year's Wuhan Poetry Festival, the poet Huazi said, "I haven't written poetry for many years, because after reading Walden, I suddenly found that prose can be written in this way, so I went to write prose." This shows the beauty of Walden.
Romantic scenery and poetic philosophical rationality run through the book, and it is even awkward to read. But after reading it, we will feel that we live by the lake with Thoreau, watch the scenery of the four seasons and talk about the philosophy of life.
This book emphasizes the power of nature. This power comes from two aspects, one is the love between man and nature.
When we see the sunrise, the feeling of strength seems to flow into our blood with the sunshine; When we were in the grassland forest, our hearts could not help rejoicing and gave birth to the freedom of Ren Woxing. When we see stormy rivers, vast seas, towering mountains, boundless deserts and vast starry sky, we feel awe and insignificance; We will also raise green plants and arrange flowers at home to get a sense of pleasure. Not only now, but every time I recall this picture, this power will be stirred again in our hearts. It is our innate nature to gain strength from nature.
In the variety "People's Story", Nicholas Tse looked at the eagles on the grassland and asked Ding Zhen, "Do you envy them? Look how free they are. " Ding Zhen: "I don't envy, because I am also very free."
We can't all live in grassland or countryside. How can we have this freedom? This is another aspect of natural forces: under any circumstances, we should respect our natural nature and pursue inner peace.
Thoreau shows us a life in harmony with nature through the whole book. Tell us: just live a simple life and meet your own needs, especially your spiritual needs; We should regard nature as the most expensive wealth and gift and set aside a lot of time to enjoy and cherish it; People, like everything else, have their own growth rhythm and life choices, and do not need to refer to others or misjudge others; Live honestly and soberly; At the same time, we are aware of the "wildness" in our nature and adjust it through subjective initiative.
Thoreau admitted that he was "wild" and realized that it was human instinct to pursue wildness. This wildness can be said to be "desire", which corresponds to "temperance".
He is a transcendentalist, and the core of transcendentalism is to advocate that people can transcend feelings and rationality, directly know the truth, and emphasize the importance of intuition and human subjective initiative.
Therefore, he believes that "all indulgence, despite its various forms, is birds of a feather", and eating, sleeping and shopping are all "worldly desires similar to livestock", but he also firmly believes that we can always get rid of all this through hard work and practice and reach the day of "paradise on earth".
Desire is our instinct. Having and satisfying desires makes us feel the freshness of life. Desire can be said to be the expression of loving life, but excessive desire has become our "self-cast shackles."
At the age of 44, he died of lung disease. Thoreau lived a modest and simple life in his short life. After graduating from Harvard University, he didn't engage in any occupation. When he needs money, he chooses short-term jobs such as repairing ships, building fences, planting and grafting, and surveying to ensure self-sufficiency and enough leisure. He is unmarried, lives alone, doesn't go to church, doesn't vote, refuses to pay taxes, doesn't eat meat, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke ... In the eyes of his contemporaries, he is paranoid and eccentric.
Does Thoreau live a "paradise on earth" life? The answer is yes. When asked: How can you give up so much fun in life? He said: he's sure he likes this kind of life.
Both ancient Greek philosophy and China's Confucianism advocated the golden mean, which is an important element of happiness. How to be temperate? We don't have to live an extreme life like Thoreau's, but for freedom and happiness, we can live a simple life, bid farewell to the trap of consumerism, abandon what we can, and recognize what really makes us happy.
Temperance is not the denial of desire, but the pursuit of balance. For example, the happiness of buying new clothes and bags can keep me going for a day or two; However, my ever-changing thinking can make me feel fresh about the world, and this kind of happiness is endless. Even if I can't give up shopping completely, I can try to strike a balance between desire and moderation. In front of delicious food, we should also remember how long it takes to exercise to consume them and the possible wealth diseases.
Temperance is not to treat yourself harshly, but to practice a simple and serious life, loosen the shackles of endless desires, and treat yourself with more and more respect.
This is very similar to the popular concept of "fire movement" in recent years. "Fire" means cash flow provided by assets, financial independence, early retirement, saving expenses and living a free retirement life.
I followed the blogger? @ Still talking about money? On the official account of WeChat, he opened his own road to wealth and freedom. In 65,438+05, his assets increased from 900,000 to 5 million, but his annual expenses only increased from 65,438+000 to 654,380+05 million (as shown below).
Ordinary wage earners hope to achieve wealth freedom and maintain a relatively simple life. When you buy unnecessary consumer goods and they are expensive, you can ask yourself: Do you want this item or do you want to be free as soon as possible? It's still hard to give up and satisfy yourself. Long-term happiness can't be achieved by completely sacrificing the present happiness.
With less material burden, walking life will be easier. Ask yourself every time you pay for this item, do you really like it? Is it necessary? Is there a substitute teacher at home?
At the same time, I think that realizing wealth and freedom does not mean not working, but that you can live less like a fool or experience a fantastic life like Thoreau.
I am also willing to live by experiments, look at my past and learn from it. Thoreau walked into the lake with an axe on his back for this purpose. There is no better way to acquire knowledge than personal experience. Sometimes you may go the wrong way, sometimes you may hesitate, but don't worry, these experiences are unique life experiences.
In the Japanese drama "Little Forest", the scene of the protagonist baking bread in the stove has always remained in my memory. After a little time, the bread gradually expands and stretches, which may be time-consuming and troublesome, but the delicious food obtained by the most primitive stove is no different from that obtained by the oven. The hero, Prince Shizi, decided to return to his hometown after experiencing city life and country life respectively. Even if you go for a ride and live a life you really like, it is also a success.
In addition to major life choice experiments, countless small experiments can be carried out in life. Recently, I was conducting a "100 day no quarrel experiment" with my husband. In this process, try not to quarrel. If there is a quarrel, record the cause and process, hoping to achieve non-violent communication in the end. And my current book review is also an experiment. I want to see my changes after reading 100, ideologically and in words. It must be interesting to compare.
In terms of time, Thoreau advocated getting up at dawn and spending every day leisurely like nature. Getting up early and taking a bath by the lake is his morning ritual; He often spends half a day in the sun and does nothing, but he thinks it's worth it.
It's too difficult for me to get up early, but when I'm lying on the grass and watching the clouds roll and relax, when I'm sitting on the terrace enjoying flowers and drinking tea in a daze ... these seemingly useless simple little happiness make me feel uncomfortable and feel that life is worth living.
Fromm once said, "Modern people think that if they don't do things quickly, they will lose something-time, but people don't know how to use the time they have, except to kill it in vain." Or we don't have to worry, according to our own rhythm, looking forward to enjoying the present in the distance.
After reading Walden, you will have your own Walden, deep or shallow. The benefits are as rich as gravel and will continue to precipitate. (End)