Oh, Thoreau.
Brief disclaimer. I have never read Walden. I began to acquaint myself with notable quotations from Henry David's masterwork because it made getting through my English major (or at least the half of it that I did get through) a little easier. My knowledge of a few lines here and there may have also served me well (impressive!) in a few dating situations with a few unsuspecting young men. Unsuspecting and unread young men.
I am not proud.
A year or two into my marriage (and adulthood) it occured to me that Thoreau's words might be more useful than the pseudo deep prelude to a make out session (always regretted) with those unread young men. Maybe he was actually saying something.
"...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..."
The beauty of an existence lived according to my voice and desires. To choose the essence of LIFE over the distractions of the world. To have breathed deeply, tasted discerningly, walked with wonder. That is a life I want to live. It is the life I need my children to live. Riley and I have spoken extensively about living our lives deliberately. We talk about a little house on a little land. Used cars and new garden tools. Books, song and homemade sauerkraut.
There are plans and hope and intent.
There is also the untenable state of my reality. I drive more than I walk, the maintenance of our house overwhelms, and I have never planted that cabbage for that homemade sauerkraut. I don't know how to change. I need a little help. And while Walden Pond and it's poet inspire, I could use assistance from a slightly more practical source.
Enter the lovely, the inspiring, the accessible! book by Tsh Oxenreider, Organized Simplicity. Mrs. Oxenreider is an advocate for intentional (hello, deliberate) living. She loves her children, her husband and her God. And, my goodness, she loves life. This little tome covers everything from writing and implementing a family purpose statement to the best way to fold a fitted sheet. She advocates a tolerant and individualized approach to a simpler and more meaningful way of life. A framework for creation and play and laughter and happiness. I know what I want, and this lovely stranger has given me the tools I need to attain it. Excessive praise? Not in the opinion of this wannabe Walden child.
So an experiment. Thursday posts will be dedicated the triumphs and sure to be funny failures in the process of deliberate living. Steps I have taken, book held in hand and others I have taken on my own. Little. Simple. Happy. Who knows, I might even find the time to read that one book Thoreau wrote.
Let the living begin.