Revisiting Walden

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Henry David Thoreau’s Walden tops my list of life-changing literature. It didn’t grab me the first time around. But after reading it a second time, I understood everything Thoreau was trying to tell me. I wanted to learn more about this eccentric man who revered nature, wrote for social justice, and treasured solitude. His writings challenged to keep moving “in the direction of my dreams,” even when it wasn’t easy.

After visiting Walden Pond in Concord, I was inspired to write an essay, which was published in The Christian Science Monitor early in my freelance career. And you can imagine how thrilled I was when the editors of the McDougal Littell “American Literature” series noticed the piece in the CSM — and paid me to reprint it in their textbook for high school students. You can read it online here.

Is there a book that influenced you in some way, or inspired you to follow your own dreams? I’d love to hear about it. ~CL