"Where I lived and what I lived for"

"Where I am and what I lived for," the second chapter of Thoreau's Walden recounts a number of now famous passages about living life to the fullest. My favorite passage of that chapter is often only quoted for the first line, but reading past where Dead Poets ended, it speaks to Thoreau's role as writer, observing and reporting back on his unique experience. He writes, “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.” His goal in going to Walden was in fact a dual purpose pursuit; indulge in the exploration of the barest, most pristine forms of life and to report back. While no Thoreau I share the earnestness of this calling as a writer, to go out, experience and share. I hope you enjoy.