this morning, as i was brewing coffee in my mini-moka pot, my brother told me: "solarcat, i see two paths for your life. either you stay more or less the same and get a job related to your major" -- data science -- "or you suddenly move to a cabin in the woods with 3 cats to live off the earth".
i must say i was surprised to hear such an accurate description of my future. "in truth", i said, "i think a lot about living in the forest and having a little garden". setting aside the facts that i know nothing about agriculture, despise flying bugs, crave wifi, love fancy restaurants, and have to go to the doctor once every 3 months, i fantasize quite often about life in the woods. of course, in the "cottagecore fantasy" sort of way, not in the "actually having to work" sense.
it is reassuring to know that some smart people™ before me have thought about this too. i recently picked up Walking by Henry David Thoreau at my local library. the book was fine, but what stood out to me the most was its prologue which explained a bit about Thoureau's life. inevitably, i ended up reading his whole biography in Wikipedia. he was a pretty interesting guy, so here are some things i think are worth sharing.
this isn't meant to be a comprehensive biography, i have selected only the facts that i found the most interesting. for more complete and accurate biography, see Encyclopedia Britannica or The Walden Woods Project.
Thoureau studied at Hardvard between 1833 and 1837, back when the college had only a few buldings. There he took courses on rhetoric, classics, philosophy, mathematics, and science. legend goes he refused to pay a five dollar fee for his Harvard diploma (it had no academic merit), and famously said "Let every sheep keep its own skin", reference to diplomas being written on sheepskin vellum. (Source)
I hate the present modes of living and getting a living. -- Journal, 1 November 1855
He wasn't interested in the typical professions for college graduates at the time -- laywer, clergy, business, medicine -- so he became a teacher like his two siblings. Eventually, he returned to his hometown (Concord, Massachusetts, US) to work in his family's pencil factory and focus on his writing.
Our life is frittered away by detail. . . . Simplify, simplify. -- Walden, 1854
After that, he lived for two years in a cabin at Walden pond as an experiment in simple living. He built the cabin himself and limited his diet to wild vegetables, beans, and the small animals and fish he caught. He spent his free time observing the local flora and fauna, writing, and walking around Walden pond. Wrote a memoir about it titled Walden, or Life in the Woods in 1854.
Thoreau's Survey of Walden Pond in 1846. Soruce: The Walden Woods Project
now I'd like to read Walden. I find this man pretty interesting. Life goals: have enough time to walk four hours a day.
"I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least—and it is commonly more than that—sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements." -- Walking
"you're right but, you know, i think there is a third, more likely, path", i responded to my brother as i was sipping my coffee. "i'll get a job in computer science for a few years, burn out, and then start my life in the cabin"
originally this post was supposed to end here. but after a while i thought "wait, but why am i even thinking about this? why do i want to live in a cabin?". there are three things appeal to me about this cottagecore fantasy.
first,