“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
~ Henry David Thoreau, 19th-Century American Author & Naturalist
Sometimes in life there are points of convergence, when several unrelated things suddenly come to a crossroads. These synchronicities are the way that the Universe acknowledges your right-footedness, the fact that you are following the correct path. Something of this sort has been unfolding for us over the past year.
During my recent pregnancy I became increasingly sensitive to any form of negativity, whether through social interactions, television or even in books. I also became rather sentimental about the past and my life experiences. These two things led me to dreaming about my youth in Massachusetts and to reading gentle, inspirational books. The one I most enjoyed in my early pregnancy was Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, written while the author lived separate from society in a small one-room cabin, it is a book that muses on a simple life and a personal connection with nature.
Not long after I started re-reading Walden, Serge and I went for a 3-D ultrasound to discover whether we were having a boy or a girl. We were both convinced that it was a girl. But, guess what? It was a boy! Well, I was shocked and emotional and it took some time to adjust to the idea. (What the heck do I know about raising boys?!? Nada.) The thing that really helped me connect to the concept of mothering a boy was our decision to name the baby Thoreau. I had taken so much peace and inspiration from Walden and Thoreau’s other works, like Civil Disobedience.
In my 6th month of pregnancy, we found ourselves visiting Massachusetts for my baby shower and, during our trip there, I thought it would be a fun exploration to visit Concord and channel Henry David Thoreau at the site of his Walden cabin. It seemed a good idea to know more about his true nature before giving birth to a child and naming him Thoreau. Our session with the author was touching and enlightening and we came away feeling that his forthrightness and his gentle spirituality were a perfect mix of energies to imbue our son with.
Then, upon our return to Nova Scotia, we began looking for a new house rental, something affordable for the time while Serge was to be on parental leave. Oddly, and with very little effort on our part, we ended up living in a small off-the-grid cabin with an outhouse and no running water. So quiet, and such a fitting place for little Thoreau to live after his birth.
Now, with our 4-month-old in tow, we are comfortably living back in the “modern” world, but the woods are definitely the baby’s favorite place to be.
All of these experiences converged and ran somewhat of a “Henry David Thoreau” thread through our lives. We feel a special affinity for him and his writings now and have decided to release our channeling with him as our first ebook.
Thus we introduce Medium Adventures: Channeling Henry David Thoreau — now available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook. Like all Kindle ebooks it can be read on your Kindle device, on your computer using the the Kindle application or online.
Here is a short excerpt:
“Finding a downed tree which could be easily sat upon and also offered a clear view of the cabin site, we chose this location to attempt a connection with the man himself. Channeling him was easy and he accepted the process willingly. I felt his energy to be both steadfast and soft, he emitted a bright, open-heartedness and sad sort of wisdom. There was a simple, gentle joy about his demeanor and also a weariness of some kind, no doubt from the knowledge that the world has continued on in the industrialized direction that he already saw it headed in his time. He was eager to speak and his words, channeled raw and spontaneously, are what follow —
You wish me to speak to you. But what more can I say than what I have already told? I ran from the world, seeking peace and solace. But you can see that that is not truly possible. The world has chosen the way of noise, they way of hustle and of bustle. The world will follow you. I could enjoy the last years of peace, for a time. But peace does not exist here anymore. It was drawing to a close, even in my time. I sucked out its sap, before it was cut down heartlessly. And I brought that sap into my soul.
That is the only way that you can enjoy nature, to take from it what you can and make it a part of you. You have to carry the peace with you. You cannot leave it in a place. For others will come and they will not see the peace. They will not enjoy what you and enjoy and they will hunt it down and kill it. Everyone has their own motivations. Mine were mirrored in the minds of my contemporaries, bit we were the last of a dying breed. There is no community here anymore. Even the community that I ran from would be a gift in these noisy times. Everyone separate, chasing their own values or not having any values at all…
It is good to be choosy with your company. It is good to be choosy with your ways. Most men are far too lax, far to frivolous in their behavior and in their conversation. There is a balance. Balance once struck is difficult to maintain. Even the Earth is never in perfect balance, she works in cycles. Some parts of those cycles are far more peaceful, others more volatile. Some may say that is a balance, but when you are in the volatile part of the cycle, you cannot see any balance. When you are in the peaceful part of the cycle, you forget that there may be volatility. You must balance between what you are choosy about and what you are frivolous with.
Choosy about everything, you become cantankerous, stubborn, undesirable to be with. Then when your moment of need arises, you say, “Why has everyone abandoned me?” But, you have cut yourself off. I learned this. Yes, running away is a young man’s game, a fool’s pursuit. But finding the balance is the path of the wise.”
As you can see, Henry David was quite open and willing to share his wisdoms, earned over a short but productive lifetime.
We dedicate this work to our son Thoreau Avery Bóinn, born October 15th, 2011, who has already shown his preference for peace, balance and the great outdoors. The joy and lessons about love & selflessness brought to our family by this magical little spirit are priceless and unique, and he grows more aware and fun by the day. May his life be blessed with creativity, love and spiritual harmony.
