abandoning life as we KNOW it...?

I really like the quote mentioned in the blog heading... “I went to the woods because 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, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived.” It takes a lot to abandon one’s lifestyle they have developed. Thoreau just gave up his lifestyle to go into the woods and to practice a more simplistic lifestyle. He wanted to experience nature and forget about all the possessions in his life. I really admire him for doing so. In reality, at least today, I believe many people would have an issue with giving up the life they know to go live in a cabin in the woods. They wouldn’t know what to do without their iPod, Blackberry, laptops, Facebook of course, TVs, etc. How would be spend our time in the cabin without our worldly possessions that our part of us? Personally, I think I could live without these possessions, by myself in the cabin for about a week and then call it quits. When it comes to giving up all of my worldly possessions however, I do not believe I would be able to live a life of solitude for a year in a secluded wood. 

The problem with society today is that we don’t know what to do in the middle of the woods—us against nature. We have forgotten how to embrace nature. In our spare time, most people would rather watch a movie than go for a hike in the woods. Once again, we are going back to the idea that we love our technologies. I think part of our problem and our attachments with our technological possessions is that we grew up with them. There were TVs when we were younger, there was Internet, there were cell phones, etc. The previous generations really didn’t have much of the technologies we had growing up. They did other things to preoccupy their time… not the things we typically do. We are so dependent on our technology and it is something we do NOT want to give up or sacrifice. What would happen to the characters in Feed if they had to give up their technology aka their feeds? 

When the extra credit opportunity rose, some people believed that they could spend a whole week without technology. I’m not trying to be a pessimist, but I doubt that everyone that is signed up for the extra credit will be able to last the whole week without slipping. Personally, I think I could only last a few days... I talk to my mom twice a day, talk to my boyfriend throughout the day, eventually Skype with him at night, watch TV while I eat dinner, use the internet for homework, checking email, and of course Facebook. Of course I text throughout the day as well. I depend on technology as sad as it sounds. Don’t get me wrong, I really do love nature and all, but do I love our technologies more? 

Another quote I really liked was also from Thoreau. “We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep.” This is so true. We need to get out of our technological driven lifestyles. When having the discussion in class, we were asked how many of us use our cell phones to wake up in the morning. I, of course rose my hand, as well as about half of our class. Guilty as charged. None of us just wake up to the sunlight. This just goes to show we even depend on technology to wake ourselves in the morning. After reflecting once we read the Thoreau and Emerson quotes, I really thought about what they had to say. I want to make changes in my life. I want to lead a more simplistic lifestyle. But with our current society and the worldly possessions, is that even possibly anymore?