pulling a walden

For decades, individuals have revered the works of Henry David Thoreau. But how many people can actually take what is said in his masterpiece Walden and apply it to their lives? In our case, we're considering taking it literally.

The idea of living in the wilderness is starting to appeal to us. Even if it means boiling our water, building our own home with our hands, and hanging our laundry up to dry, I am starting to see the benefit of a return to the basics. Even if it means that our home is small and our children are ridiculed by their schoolmates for not having plasma televisions and ipods, I think we would be better off. Our ancestors could do it, so why not us? Have we regressed so far into machine dependency that we cannot survive without the aid of the latest technological comfort enhancers?

I think that the reason why most people never even consider a return to a simpler way of life is that they are too old and set in their ways by the time they awaken from their unsatisfying American dream. They've worked their whole life away, for a measly pension (if they're lucky) and regret for not having done more with their lives when they were young. With the frequent use of computers across all industries, you can also add carpal tunnel syndrome to that list of post-retirement blessings. Well, no thanks. When I'm old and gray, I may not have earned much of a pension, but I'll hopefully be in better physical health than my retired peers, thanks to years and years of very little work-related stress. And I won't need that massive vested 401k because my monthly expenses will be nearly non-existent.

If we actually pursue this simple lifestyle of self-sustainment, we may even find that we don't need to rely on things like social security or medicare part d prescription plans when we are older, as we will had time to fine-tune our own health plans, targeted to our own specific inherited health quirks and enriched with holistic and natural products that cost very little.

I'm sure that it's all very hippie sounding, but if our country continues in the direction it is heading (with its unchecked commodification of nearly *everything*), I suspect that there will be many people who feel jealous. Those of us who have removed ourselves from the rat race and rediscovered what is truly important in life will be happier - because that which is most important may be all that is left.