{"id":118667,"date":"2023-11-26T16:55:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T20:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=118667"},"modified":"2023-12-08T17:06:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T21:06:29","slug":"choose-your-own-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/choose-your-own-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Choose Your Own Path: Advice From Henry David Thoreau"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What choices are the right ones for you? Do you tend to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/follow-your-intuition\/\">follow your intuition<\/a> and live by your convictions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Henry David Thoreau made an interesting choice when he went to live in the woods. Perhaps even more interesting was his decision to leave the woods two years later. By looking at his example, you can draw inspiration to make your own choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more to learn how Thoreau carved out his own life and how you can choose your own path, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-thoreau-chose-his-own-path\">How Thoreau Chose His Own Path<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before we look at Thoreau\u2019s advice on how to choose your own path, let&#8217;s consider his example. One of Thoreau\u2019s reasons for going to Walden involved his confidence in his own choices and his belief that he needed to trust his intuition. <strong>He felt that moving to the woods was the right choice for him, so he followed his own path<\/strong>. Thoreau contends that we\u2019re all capable of living moral and meaningful lives if we follow our intuitions and honor our convictions. He writes that there are \u201chigher laws\u201d than those of human society. By distancing himself from the city, even by a short walk through the woods, he could more easily live according to his own values.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Thoreau also champions self-reliance, not only in providing for your own material needs but also in enriching yourself spiritually<\/strong>. He argues that every person needs to seek their own path toward spiritual fulfillment as an individual independent in their thoughts and actions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: By living at Walden Pond for two years, Thoreau <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/07\/10\/opinion\/thoreaus-invisible-neighbors-at-walden.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tried to achieve<\/a> what Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote about in his essay <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thamesandhudsonusa.com\/books\/self-reliance-hardcover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cSelf-Reliance&#8221;<\/a>: the ideal of avoiding conformity and following his own instincts. Some scholars say that it was during the two years at Walden that Thoreau <a href=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/article\/friends-like-these-on-thoreau-and-emerson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stepped out of Emerson\u2019s shadow<\/a> and rejected Emerson\u2019s idealism in favor of something more practical. One writer notes that the degree to which we\u2019re free to pursue our own paths is determined by factors that are largely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2020\/01\/15\/the-myth-of-self-reliance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">outside of our control<\/a>. She writes that, if Emerson\u2019s idealism seems too optimistic [to Thoreau or to modern readers], it might be because his self-reliance depends on having the social and material resources to be independent.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-choose-your-own-path\">How to Choose Your Own Path<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Acting on Thoreau\u2019s advice to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/follow-your-own-path\/\">follow your own path<\/a> could look different for everyone. But, he offers two principles that might help you to discern which path to take.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Live an independent life<\/strong>. Thoreau doesn\u2019t argue that you need to ignore society. Instead, he contends that it\u2019s important to find and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/living-by-your-values\/\">live according to your values<\/a>, even when they conflict with what everyone else is doing. (For example, he felt happy to spend a night in jail if that meant that he was living in accordance with what he believed was morally right.) Thoreau writes that by living independently, we can make every moment meaningful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t be afraid to change course<\/strong>. To Thoreau, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-find-your-path\/\">finding your own path<\/a> doesn\u2019t require committing single-mindedly to a destination and never wavering. Instead, he acknowledges that your priorities can change\u2014as his did when he ultimately left Walden after two years. He argues that the important thing is to spend your time in ways that are meaningful to you. Everyone\u2019s path to fulfillment is their own to choose and to change as needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: One critic writes that Thoreau\u2019s choice to leave the pond he loved\u2014and would later make famous\u2014was the <a href=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/article\/to-walden-on-lawrence-buells-henry-david-thoreau-and-robert-d-richardsons-three-roads-back\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">most interesting<\/a> choice that Thoreau made during his time in Walden Woods. Thoreau\u2019s decision to move on from the woods that made him so happy seems to illustrate his belief in the necessity of continuing to move forward. Historians say Thoreau continued to return to Walden Pond even after his cabin was sold and dismantled. And, for many years, he labeled journal entries \u201cTo Walden.\u201d One might argue that Thoreau never truly left Walden behind.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What choices are the right ones for you? Do you tend to follow your intuition and live by your convictions? Henry David Thoreau made an interesting choice when he went to live in the woods. Perhaps even more interesting was his decision to leave the woods two years later. By looking at his example, you can draw inspiration to make your own choices. Read more to learn how Thoreau carved out his own life and how you can choose your own path, as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":118675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,33,43],"tags":[1338],"class_list":["post-118667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-people","category-self-improvement","tag-walden","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Choose Your Own Path: Advice From Henry David Thoreau - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By understanding how Henry David Thoreau carved out his own life, you can draw inspiration to choose your own path. 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