Thoughts on a Plane.

Complexity.

The root rejects its host - it longs for the uncertainty

married to the bride that is freedom.

The host's piercing energy unravels involuntarily--

instinctively attempting to capture the renegade parasite which now seeks flight.

Roots are destined for stagnancy,

entrenched in the darkness of the cold, coarse ground.

Why flee the warmth of the sun? The radiance it promises?

The irrational allure of freedom is the answer.

Life: a linear spectrum of gray matter: rarely black and white.

Life and death, sun and shade - an omnipresent fusion of extremes.

Absolutes make it too easy.

We must live the questions.

Life: A dizzying array of colors, a precise inventory of formulas--

intricacy battles simplicity.

In the end, majesty won.

Re-Examining My Biggest Inspiration

Delving into Walden four years after I first read it has been a refreshing experience. While reading the first chapter, Economy, I couldn't help but relfect upon what is perhaps Thoreau's most profound statement: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." It is so true; so many people feel like they are in a state of stagnancy and do not know how to move forward. Too often, people look for the solutions to their problems in all the wrong places and seek palliatives rather than real answers. Thoreau asserts that the best solution to any ailment is to genuinely simplify one's life. He claims that a "stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are the games and amusements of mankind;" I acknowledge that it is temporarily easier to deflect one's problems and engage in activities that assist in distracting oneself but it is far less meaningful than delving into our minds and introspecting. A thorough analysis of the path on which one treads has no substitute, and this practice has significantly enhanced the meaning of my own life. I admire someone who makes the effort to live such a pure life.

I sometimes look back on my time when I lived in New York for two years as my equivalent to Thoreau's time at Walden because I had to learn to apply sublimation to my distress and enjoy the time I spent alone. I was incredibly lonely, and was unable to form solid connections with anyone around me. I had to try and see the beauty in independence and had no option but to stop relying on others for happiness. Thoreau accomplished this, for he stresses on so many occasions that "the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hinderances to the elevation of mankind." I remember when I first read this exact line four years ago, and in retrospect, I think I retained it so well because this sentiment was one of the few ideas that got me through difficult times while attending my first high school in Manhattan; I tried to reiterate to myself that the superficiality by which I was surrounded was not going to get my peers anywhere, and it would not bring them long term peace. Only a lifestyle which Thoreau experienced where all superfluous and corrupt entities are weeded out of one's life will result in true contentment.

The portion of Walden entitled "Economy" dissects how Thoreau observes human nature to have entered a mind-numbing stupor. I see so many correlations between Thoreau's perception from the 1800s and my perception of the world now. Thoreau's critique in "Economy" in which he poses the question "Why should [men] eat their sixty acres, when man is condemned to eat only his peck of dirt?" is a reflection on how people fail to see the limits on what they can acquire. The same question was asked, in a more modern fashion (with references more pertinent to our culture in the 21st century) in a 2009 TIME magazine article entitled "The End of Excess". Thoreau mentions a concept he affectionately dubs "the divinity of man," making an allusion to the fact that human beings seem to put themselves up on pedestals -- as if we can infinitely consume and revel in delusions of false progress. He says that "there are so many keen and subtle masters that enslave both north and south" after discussing the issue of slavery and how frivolous an "amenity" it is to possess an enslaved person. These "subtle masters" of which Thoreau speaks are undoubtedly social conventions that people have this fervent need to buy into: social conventions, of any sort, that when embraced, hinder one's own sense of personal aspiration and individual pursuit of happiness.

I remember reading Thoreau when I was still at prep school in New York. His words helped me crawl out of the intense depression I had entered because his literature was able to remind me that going against the grain is healthy. I was miserable at my school because I felt as if there was something wrong with me due to my inability to relate to others. It was lines like "Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate" which helped me (and still helps me) understand the power of introspection and the importance of feeling comfortable with one's sense of self, for it reiterates that public opinion or popular fashion doesn't equal divine mandate or truth.

Broadening.

"To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery." This sentiment at the very end of Walden carries such gravity to me personally because there was nothing I thought of more while I was living in New York. No matter how hard we try and think positively, sometimes uplifting ourselves is out of our control when we are in an environment we deem suffocating and unfit for us. Thoreau felt a similar sense of disgust for his environment and the over indulgence and blind acceptance he witnessed so prevalently around him. This is why he retreated to an atmosphere where it is absolutely essential to get to know your surroundings and think critically about everything in order to live adequately.

Thoreau exclaims, "Thank Heaven, here is not all the world. The buckeye does not grow in New England, and the mocking-bird is rarely heard here." It's truly ridiculous when people assume that the rest of the world is like the small cocoon in which they live. I admire the fact that Thoreau receives such excitement from the very prospect of exploration, let alone, physically going out to expand his horizons in unknown environments. He explains how we subconsciously set up boundaries in which we confine ourselves within our minds which are physically manifested through stone walls guarding our farms and rail-fences against our property. He maintains that this is the most pervasive tragedy. He says that "the universe is wider than our views of it," and therefore it is up to us to allow ourselves to continually expand our views. It is the only way to view the world holistically and not narrowly. Lines like these make me think of my seventh grade year during which I wrote a speech on introspection. My closing line was, "if you don't introspect you will still survive, but if you do introspect you will truly thrive."

Punk Rock, Thoreau, and Learning

My favorite Punk band of all time is Bad Religion. They are always blunt and forward with their social and political critiques and always attempt to provoke their listeners in an intelligent fashion. In their song, "21st Century Digital Boy," their lead singer, Greg Graffin, sings, "I'm a 21st century digital boy/ I don't know how to read but I've got a lot of toys." The underlying sentiment of these lines mirrors precisely what Thoreau gets across when he states the following: "As with our colleges, so with a hundred 'modern improvements,' there is an illusion about them... Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention away from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end." Thoreau is again commenting on misplaced priorities in society. Engagement with the natural world and all it has to offer for our self betterment become more and more distant in a society which is becoming increasingly concerned with materialism and artificial advancements. His comment about colleges touches upon how education started to become more and more standardized, as with most things in a capitalist society, leading to personalized approaches to happiness becoming more distant. He is aware of the fact that society offers too many petty distractions from our quests of self improvement; the Bad Religion song reflects this awareness as well. Today's climate exacerbates these social ailments when we have flashing billboards encouraging useless consumption; countless influences glittered with gaudy lights beg us mercilessly for our attention so we will fail to look inward, instead, at the emptiness which will one day present itself to us.

Longing and Simplicity

Thoreau's most commonly reiterated point is the value of leading a simple life. He has tremendous faith in the notion that an individual who leads a simplistic life will be the one to garner the most contentment. He claims that "There can be no very black melancholy to him who lives in the midst of Nature, and has his senses still." I love how Thoreau capitalizes "Nature," as if it is has a signature persona all its own with personified qualities of generosity and pacifism. He can proudly say, "I have never felt lonesome, or in the least oppressed by a sense of solitude."

I used to remember longing so badly for Thoreau's admirable sense of calm and collectivity. When I lived in New York, I tried my hardest to reach some semblance of peace from my loneliness but was never able to do so until the day I moved to California. In asking, "Can we not do without the society of our gossips a little while under these circumstances,--have our own thoughts to cheer us?" Thoreau critiques the commonness of everyone seeking pleasure and stimulation from external sources. The most valuable skill to acquire is the ability to be at peace with one's solitude, for in life, you really only have yourself. It's the most difficult ability to achieve but the most helpful because it will give you a sense of fulfillment in being able to produce a sense of belonging from directly within yourself.

Thoreau and Real Education

It's amusing for me to think about the correlations I see between Thoreau's gripes with society and the complaints I had about prep school. In Walden, Thoreau poses a question which reminds me of the Mark Twain quote, "I never let school interfere with my education." Thoreau's question is, "What is a course of history or philosophy, or poetry, no matter how well selected, or the best society, or the most admirable routine of life, compared with the discipline of always looking at what is to be seen? Will you be a reader, a student merely, or a seer?" I see a correlation between the two quotes because both imply the value of acquiring knowledge through life experience and practical applications of one's experiences, rather than solely absorbing institutionalized education which often contradicts personal gratification. Back in New York, I was continually ostracized by students and administrators for poking holes at the information which my school wanted to hardwire into my mind. Thoreau boldly asks, "Why should we leave it to Harper and Brothers and Redding & Co. to select our reading?" I respect his posing of this question because it is not up for the institutions and media conglomerates to which we submit ourselves to decide for us what information we should take in; it is up to us to navigate through the variety of portals we have at our fingertips to discern what has bearing on our lives.

On a related point, I've always been an advocator of healthy provocation to simply reinforce the notion that one's thoughts can always be refined. Thoreau notes that "We boast that we belong to the nineteenth century, and we are making the most rapid strides of any nation. But consider how this little village does for its own culture. I do not wish to flatter my townsmen, nor to be flattered by them, for that will not advance either of us. We need to be provoked--." Healthy provocation, when exercised efficiently, is the key to breaking the delusions in which people live. While there is no doubt that our society has made extraordinary advancements socially, politically, and economically throughout history, the recent Wall Street crash was partially a result of people who got too comfortable abusing their privileges. Getting too settled into one's comfort zone can be dangerous, and to provoke is to send a genuine reminder that change is constant and we must embrace it to progress.

Excursions.

In my International Relations class we were studying "heroes" of the Realist and Liberalist realms of IR theory. I found particularly interesting the section on how Nixon and Kissinger worked diligently to improve US/USSR relations during their term. I guess what I found interesting was how Nixon and Kissinger were quintessential "realists" in every political sense: calculating, Manichean, striving for a unipolar world in which America prevailed leaving everyone else to eat our superior, capitalist dust. Yet, they were being quintessential Liberals in deciding to reach out through use of dialogue and overarching global institutions for a more peaceful world. This is a seemingly random anecdote from an otherwise subpar class, but lest I forget my point - I think I always find it fascinating to watch people explore other versions of themselves. I'm always intrigued when people decide to challenge their traditional way of conducting themselves - it almost always is conducive to learning and profound personal growth.

(Leaving Nixon aside, who clearly had a ton to learn, thus undermining my argument, let us move forward and make some more relevant parallels.)

I think the best human relationships are those where you discover parts of yourself that you didn't know existed. Whether you like what you discover or loathe these newfound qualities, they are still fibers, good or bad, which compose the person you are. The more you uncover about yourself, the more learning opportunities are presented before your eyes to seize vigorously in hopes of improving your life. I've come to discover that there exist certain relationships where both partners can be so remarkably similar, so much so that talking to the other person can be like talking to yourself. This can be so useful because I've found, in my own life, that engaging in somewhat of a "mental dialogue" with myself is the best way to work out problems or extrapolate certain issues to their logical conclusions. A healthy relationship can be a portal through which to accomplish this every second of the day, consciously and subconsciously. I really think that the best relationships put you at such ease that you may not even notice yourself shifting from your traditional self into a more creative, thoughtful, more observant version of you until the mutual benefits are reaped. I suppose this idea of transformation truly enamors me. I always knew that people had the potential to change for the worse. It always scared me. It's nice to remember that people can also change for the better, too.

Imagination

Thoreau had heard many stories about the bottom of Walden Pond, or rather, the lack thereof, and had to see for himself. His reasoning for doing so can be deciphered from his statement, "It is remarkable how long men will believe in the bottomlessness of a pond without taking the trouble to sound it." This thought process is beautiful because it's a metaphor for so many beliefs that humankind possesses regarding infinite versus finite means. The "bottomlessness of a pond" to which he refers could be replaced with the concept of natural resources in today's world, such as oil and other amenities that we have endlessly been consuming. Now, we are faced with the realistic fact that the road of consumption has an imminent dead end.

He discovers that the maximum depth of the water was approximately one hundred seven feet. Astounded at how remarkable a depth this is for such a small looking area, he poses the question, "What if all ponds were shallow? Would it not react on the minds of men? I am thankful that this pond was made deep and pure for a symbol. While men believe in the infinite, some ponds will be thought to be bottomless." Thoreau is remarking upon two things here. Firstly, he realizes the unflinching belief of mankind that things are everlasting. From the notion of the afterlife to the consumption practices mentioned earlier, it would be much more practical to go about something with the mindset that nothing lasts forever, or that all good things must come to an end. Secondly, albeit slightly contrary to the first point, he is remarking upon the infinite capabilities of people to achieve great things. Even though our resources are finite, our imagination is infinite.

Thoreau and Manson

One of my favorite lines of Walden is the following: "No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof."

If I were to choose a mantra for Punk Rock, this would definitely be it.

To me, Punk is in very large part concerned with being a free-thinking individual - an individual who will not adhere to the arbitrary and commonly accepted trends of society simply because it is the status quo. Of course, if you arrive to a conclusion on your own which happens to mesh with that of society's, this is wholly acceptable. However, the key is simply not to just accept something because it has prevailed for generations or because it is unquestioned. I've always thought that Marilyn Manson is one of the strongest proprietors of this philosophy. In his song "Antichrist Superstar," he sings about how people have a tendency to submit themselves to the "common mode of living" without thinking. He sings, "I didn't have to sell you - you threw your money in the pissing well, you do just what they tell you." Thoreau found it devastating that there is such a huge portion of our minds that we allow to remain inactive. Marilyn Manson, a true Punk in every sense of the word, would certainly be alligned with Thoreau on this score.