“No man ever followed his genius till it misled him. Though the result were bodily weakness, yet perhaps no one can say that the consequences were to be regretted, for these were a life in conformity to higher principles. If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal -- that is your success. All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated. We easily come to doubt if they exist. We soon forget them. They are the highest reality. Perhaps the facts most astounding and most real are never communicated by man to man. The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.”
--Thoreau, Walden
I don’t really know why but whenever I thought of blogging about Into the Wild I always found myself returning to this quote from the beginning of chapter six. It just shouts something. What do you guys think when you read it? For me it just hit the nail on the head, dead on, because it’s true! Even though McCandells’ way of following his “genius” is peculiar, and somewhat senseless, I don’t think that he would ever regret the consequences. In fact I am absolutely certain that he wouldn’t regret how he lived out his dreams. Okay maybe the parts that led to his death, but still I wonder if even then if he would have changed much of what he did if he had known what was going to happen. And then there’s the parts of this quote that mention how nature’s beauty in itself is reward enough. There’s a part of me that feels this way towards nature like McCandells did. That all life’s wonders, all that’s purely good in this world comes from or is connected to nature.
Yeah sounds corny but whatever. Whenever I go camping or am outside and alone just thinking, it’s peace. It is only with nature or music that I feel truly whole, and it wouldn’t be surprising to me if that’s how the trail felt to McCandells. For some it is not possible to get goose bumps on the back of their neck after listening to the hum of an orchestra that is perfectly in tune, or because of the way that the leaves on the forest’s trees sway in the wind, but for others, they do. Neither music nor nature is communicated by man. It is just simply felt if understood.
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First of all, I totally understand what you mean by getting goosebumps when listening to an orchestra in tune. Sometimes it's just so freaking amazing and incredibly peaceful.
Secondly, I think that one thing many people agree of is the peacefulness of nature. Sometimes it's great to just sit down and listen to the sounds around you. But as Thoreau seems to understand, because we live in a crowded and busy environment, we often forget to appreciate the nature around us and because we are so busy we don't stop to "smell the roses," or whatever the case might be. I totally agree with him on this subject, however, I doubt that we, as a people, will become any closer to nature in the next few years; and I think that as time goes on we might even forget that there is such a thing as peace in nature.
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