The Distraction: Thoreau's Way Of Life

The Distraction Over the years nature has become less relevant to the people. It has been pushed to the back of their minds and forgotten about. What do fill their minds are the technological advances of society. Berry sees this in himself; he sees how his life is being taken over by the society. To free his mind he went off into the woods where he took the time to escape his normal everyday life. He valued his time in solitude and it changed his mind set after the couple days he was there. He came to realize that people’s minds have become too occupied with the ways of living in civilization that they overlook where they are actually living and that they are truly in the mist of living their lives. They live in nature itself however they …show more content…
Like Thoreau said, “I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary” and Berry’s went to the woods to clear his mind and forget about society in order to truly live his life. Both their take on living in solitude is about the same, they went to the woods to notice their lives and stop living in the presence of humanity. Berry’s idea of living in the woods could have been influenced by Thoreau because Berry stated that, “coming here, what I have done is strip away the human façade that usually stands between me and the universe, and I see more clearly where I am.” Going to the woods allowed Berry to clearly see the importance of his life and where he is because he emptied his mind from the ways of society. He was finding his way to sincerely living his life. Both Thoreau and Berry sought to find the value in the lives they were living. They both went into the woods to free their lives of unnecessary belongings and find themselves as a person. They both seek nature as a guide to helping them find what is genuinely needed in their …show more content…
When Berry figured out the importance of living away from society he stated, “I am afoot in the woods. I am alive in the world, this moment, without the help or the interference of any machine. I can move without reference to anything except the lay of the land and the capabilities of my own body.” In today’s world, people do not know how to live without technology; they need that “inference of any machine,” because that’s how they are use to living. Berry realized that once man-made structures and objects were out of his life he came alive. He was living in the moment. He understood that one does not need what everyone thought they needed in order to live. What they do need is the support from nature to bring out the importance of the life they are