DJ Blog

Thoreau chose the woods as the place to conduct his experiment because to him, nature represents pure and real life. In the village, Thoreau fails to feel this sense of life making him retreat into the woods. The village tends to run your life into a routine as described vigorously by Thoreau in his writing. As an escape to this routine, Thoreau obviously picks the woods.
Once he enters the woods, he can truly appreciate life itself and reflect upon it. When he is surrounded by the clutter in the village, it seems he can only focus on how cliched everything is. Nature acts as his spiritual getaway from these thoughts, and even although this is a mental battle, the physical aspects of nature are a key factor. He brags about how the time flows and fishing on his river. He even claims that he is on Mount Olympus itself as if he were godlike. Thoreau makes many generalizations and deems nature as the purest form of life. Nature may help people relax, slow down, and think about what is really going on. It is easy to get into a routine and not think about what is actually going on in your life. It took my awhile to realize I was in college making big decisions impacting essentially the rest of my life. I can relate to Thoreau how our lives can get into an almost programmed state. You are raised to think you should go to college, get a good job, marry, raise kids, etc... The definition of a successful life has already been established before you can really find meaning in it for yourself; your own definition. Thoreau’s definition may simply be awareness and recognition or spiritually in touch. Routine is the most efficient way to get work done. Although retreating into the wilderness might promote creativity or broaden awareness, humanity can’t fit that into its busy schedule. Our species is constantly evolving, looking to learn and discover more. It is hard to accommodate reflection.
This is just some random link I found, can’t really vouch for it.
http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/walden/