In August 1839, an American brother came on a two-week rafting trip down the Concord River.
They quietly shuttle through the natural world and enjoy the quiet that is rare in the city.
After disembarking, the brothers excitedly agreed to go on a trip together in a few years.
But who would have thought that only three years later, my brother would die suddenly.
The younger brother was so grief-stricken that he locked himself in his home for three months and then went into seclusion on the deserted Lake Walden.
In the days when no one cared about him, the restlessness and sadness in his heart slowly subsided.
That brother was Thoreau, the creator of Walden.
When he lived alone on Lake Waal, he also wrote another collection of his essays, A Week on the River.
He wrote two books in his lifetime, "A Week on the River", which is his painstaking work to mourn his deceased brother.
In the book, he condenses his two-week trip into one week, delicately depicting the natural realm and his thoughts.
On the sparkling river, in the silence of the night, Thoreau meditated, reminisced, and repaired himself in silence.
After reading it, many people sighed from the bottom of their hearts: In this era of sound everywhere, calm is the real luxury.
Only by taking a break from the hustle and bustle can you awaken the awareness of the present moment, and when you are away from the crowd, you will meet the truest version of yourself.
Mahatma Gandhi said, "Don't be afraid to be isolated, you can change the world in a quiet way." ”
In the impetuous era, it is never the alarm clock that wakes people up, it is precisely this deep and rich calm.
1
In a noisy world, everyone is restless
Before writing this book, Thoreau had a time of great pain.
Born on the banks of the Concord River, he entered Harvard Grammar School at the age of 16 and dreamed of becoming a professional writer.
At that time, money worship was prevalent in American society, and everyone was chasing after me on the road to gold nuggets.
In order to make money, Thoreau and his brother opened a private school, and later ran a pencil factory with his father.
He was busy socializing every day, either attending parties or visiting clients, and he didn't have any quiet and alone time.
Being in the midst of a bustling crowd surrounded by annoying noises made Thoreau exhausted and angry.
He resigned from the school in anger when his parents found fault with the students, and left the pencil factory at a disagreement with his father.
After going to work in society, the impetuous Thoreau hit a wall everywhere.
When he was an editor, he quarreled with the editor-in-chief and was severely criticized, and when he was an inspector, he was fired for having conflicts with his boss;
When he was in business, he couldn't get used to the government's actions, and he was arrested and imprisoned after being reported.
Although he was released on bail the next day, Thoreau was like a deflated ball, unable to play any more energy.
He was caught up in endless pain by the huge noise of the outside world, and completely lost his enthusiasm for life.
Seeing that he was getting depressed, his brother John had a whim and asked him to go to the river for a walk.
They made their own rafts, carried simple tools, and went down the Concord River.
This silent journey allowed Thoreau to release the depression that had accumulated for many years, and his heart was also soothed in peace.
In his book, he says, "Our journey in still water, drifting from the past to the future, is as silent as waking up in the morning or contemplating in the middle of the night." ”
In fact, the predicament that Thoreau once faced is not a microcosm of your and my lives.
Every day when I wake up, dozens of messages come to my face, busy with children, busy with housework, busy with work.
One moment a customer calls, another time the child clamos to play, and the next moment a friend pulls him to drink.
Finally, after the socializing, in the dead of night, the voice in my head chattered like a resentful woman.
Is the work done? What does the leader mean? Are my colleagues talking about me?
The endless matters to be done, the endless noisy sounds, make people uneasy, look at nothing pleasing to the eye, and listen to everything harshly.
Actually, who doesn't want to be calm? Who doesn't want a little respite?
It's just that the world is too noisy, people have nowhere to escape, and everyone can only be ravaged repeatedly by the noise.
In the end, they all became hideous, like an enraged beast, but they could not escape the cage of life.
2
The highest state of life is abundant peace
In the book, Thoreau describes in great detail what he saw on the river.
In the crystal clear water, reeds and rushes grow wildly, and salmon and sunfish shuttle back and forth.
On the surface of the river, countless gulls and birds soared, wild ducks flapped their wings and flew wildly, and small ladybugs also went on a rampage.
The water lilies are half-asleep, the willow branches are soft and low, and the bushes are hung with plump lingonberry fruits.
On both sides of the river, the sailors who were anxious to go to sea waved goodbye to their wives and children, and the farmers who sold cattle and horses shouted in thick voices;
The chasing child knocked over the old lady's basket and ran away laughing and scolding......
Thoreau's greatest impression was that of an elderly angler.
The old man sat alone by the river like a sculpture with a fishing rod in his dirty clothes and a non-smoking pipe in his mouth.
Thoreau rowed over to talk, but the old man ignored him and glared angrily, for fear that Thoreau would scare the little fish away.
Thoreau didn't mind, smiled knowingly, and rowed away with his brother.
Two weeks passed in a flash, and it seemed that in the blink of an eye, the sun was about to set again.
And when night fell, the brothers would go ashore and set up camp.
They lit a bonfire to keep warm, drank hot cocoa boiled from the lake when they were thirsty, and ate some brown bread and sugar when they were hungry.
Late at night, they set up their tents, spread buffalo skins on the ground, and covered them with thick blankets to protect them from the cold.
Before going to bed, the two brothers would always talk for a while, and then Thoreau would review what he had thought along the way.
When passing through the ancient battlefield, he lamented that the long history will eventually transcend time and reach eternity;
Seeing the broken tombstones, he understood that people will eventually die, and they must not live as slaves to their desires.
Thinking of work, he understands that smart people will not be busy, but will devote themselves to love;
Thinking of life, he also had an epiphany that people can be trapped, but the heart can be infinitely free.
This trip to still water touched Thoreau deeply, and it also made him regain his confidence and courage in life.
And all this is so quietly.
The philosopher Zhou Guoping said:
The highest state of life is abundant peace. Tranquility is freedom from the temptations of the outside world, and abundance is due to the possession of inner treasures.
Spend time in peace and don't waste time in boredom.
It is a kind of courage to abandon the hustle and bustle, a kind of wisdom to surrender to restlessness, and an attempt to explore the heart.
When we're in a bad mood, even without the Concord River in Soreau, we can take a three-kilometer walk near our home;
When we are lonely, even if we don't have a brother or friend to accompany us, we can do something we like alone.
Calm down, keen insight will make people feel more interesting and beautiful in ordinary life.
The world is just a projection of your heart, and your heart is full of disturbing troubles, and no part of your life is a pure land.
Only by extinguishing the restlessness in our hearts will our world return to tranquility and become rich and orderly.
3
In the era of impetuousness, learn to reduce noise for yourself
Have you ever had this experience?
I wanted to be quiet alone, but I didn't know what to do, so I could only go out to find friends to drink and gossip;
I feel bored in life, but I can't raise any interest, so I can only play mobile phones, play games, and shop online;
When I rest, I still think about the next day's work, even if I fall asleep, I still have tired dreams one after another.
It's not that we don't want to be calm, it's just that the inertia of life is too great, and it can always easily throw people into irritability.
Thoreau healed himself through "A Week on the River", and we also need a "trip" to recuperate our bodies and minds.
In the era of impetuousness, people must learn to reduce noise for themselves.
I've summarized a few tips from the book on how to calm yourself down, and I hope it can help you.
1. Reading is a shortcut away from the hustle and bustle.
In the book, there is one detail that touched me.
Every day, Thoreau would find time to read a book, whether it was a famous book or a newspaper he picked up while camping.
He will make rich associations with the words he sees, creating one illusion after another in his mind and making the trip more interesting.
In fact, reading is his consistent habit.
When he used to live in the city, he often hid in his study as a way to escape from the people and things he hated.
Books are a refuge in life and a shortcut away from the hustle and bustle.
Opening a book is opening a door to paradise.
Walking in, you can experience a thousand kinds of life, you can visit thousands of landscapes, you can talk to wise people, and you can also find playmates.
When reading a book, focus on specific words, and people will instantly reach the realm of forgetting things and self.
When you are upset, read a book, keep all disturbances out, and people will naturally calm down quickly.
2. Hobbies, you can create a private garden that escapes from the world.
Thoreau has been fond of the outdoors since he was a child, and his hobbies include mountain climbing, hiking, and exploration.
Just like the river trip in the book, the experience of being in close contact with nature is Thoreau's favorite thing.
And these things, like bricks, built a garden of escape in his heart.
If you are in a bad mood, frustrated or depressed, or if you are questioned or denied, don't be afraid.
With a hobby comes a way out, and you can move in and out of any kind of life with ease.
As Haruki Murakami said:
"Doing what you like when you like and how you like is the definition of a free man. ”
When we are restless, we can put on headphones and listen to music, we can find a studio to paint, we can go for a walk in the fields, or we can drink tea, write and do sports at home behind closed doors......
Please yourself and relax in this pleasure.
Unload your exhaustion in the stillness of time, and you can be yourself boldly.
3. Travel and heal your mind in a natural oxygen bar.
There is a white description of the night scene in the book, which is very exciting.
There is almost no perceptible human activity at night, and no human breath can be heard, only the breath of the wind.
Sitting in the tent, I could hear the sound of foxes stepping on dead leaves and dew wetting aquatic plants...... In our sleep, the mute calls of sparrows or owls sing nocturnes to us......
The "click" of the twigs, the "rustle" of the leaves, each sound came to an abrupt end after breaking the silence of the night, and a deeper and more substantial silence followed.
I have to sigh at the wonder of the natural world, just a camping wilderness, can make people have such a rich sense.
In fact, we who are polluted by the turbidity of life can also go outdoors and use the power of nature to dispel the haze in our hearts.
Just like the current spring, the heavens and the earth are full of life.
You can stop and go and unload your burden in the scenery one by one, or you can go further afield on weekends and holidays to let your body and mind stretch.
When we immerse ourselves in nature by planting awareness in each plant and tree, the distractions around us will suddenly dissipate.
4. Be alone and create another quiet world.
Some say that Thoreau was the typical loner of those kinds.
He could live on unexplored Walden Lake for two years and go rafting on the inaccessible Concord River for a week.
You can live with just a knife, a cart, a lamp, and a book;
You can go months without contact with humans, go without parties for several years, and stay away from boring socializing for the rest of your life.
When I was younger, I only thought that Thoreau was an outlier, but now that I have some experience, I understand that he is the wise man of life.
"Zhuangzi" has a saying: To be alone is to be unique, and to be alone is to be noble.
When a person begins to be alone and enjoy himself, he is the real nobleman in life.
When you are alone, you can sit and meditate, you can be aware of your breath, you can stop internal friction, and you can reach the deepest inside.
As Thoreau wrote in his book:
"Go forward, to an isolated island, on a deserted beach, in an uninhabited inlet, where there is the treasure I seek. ”
Don't be afraid to live alone, after all, the most precious things can only be found in your own world.
▽
In 1851, in one of his journal entry, Thoreau described A Week on the River as a book "without a roof."
This book is like a stargazing platform, looking up, the sky is full of stars, and when you are in it, everything is silent.
When I read it, I felt a stream of tranquility from the bottom of my heart, like the imperceptible water ripples of the Concord River.
After reading it, I couldn't help but sigh: it turns out that life can be so beautiful and so gratifying.
It turns out that there is no success in the worldly sense, but as long as the heart is peaceful, people can live freely and happily.
Yishu wrote this sentence in the book:
"Be a man and do everything quietly, come quietly, go quietly, work hard quietly, harvest quietly, and avoid noise. ”
When most people are struggling in the noise, whoever calms down first will be the first to get rid of the pain.
The sound of the outside world can only wake up the body, but the awakening of the soul is inseparable from the deep calm.
It is not difficult to arrive at calm.
You can go on a trip, you can put down your phone and read a book, or you can do nothing and see no one, just be alone.
The hustle and bustle of the world may seem turbulent, but as long as it calms down, people will not be disturbed by anything.
Like it, may we all have the courage to live alone, withdraw from the world of others, move towards inner peace, and gain a more wonderful life experience.
Author: Insight Jin Shanyue