note : Walden was released on 9 August 1854, 160 years from this post.
It was during my study at University Malaya.
I failed all my papers during my 2nd year 1st semester, and so I had to extend my study for 1 year.
This is the book that I read during those difficult times, during family and study struggle.
I remembered buying it from a small shop at the most top level of Amcorp Mall (yeah the level where McDonalds was located)
I could say that it shaped most of my mindset, especially on the part of “Who cares what you think”, i.e. not giving so much shit about what people think.
This book also helps solidify the idea of solitary in me.
I’ll explain.
Now, look around you and realise my point.
There are many married woman out there, with lots of kids and a husband, but still feels lonely.
You might be in your office full of people, yet you can still feel lonely.
You might be in a goddamn lift full of people with their body odour, good-smelly or stinking shit, yet you can still feel lonely.
So why bother being lonely inside a damn hole with your self?
Why worry about being alone, divorced from your abusive husband and noisy kids?
By then you will realise, loneliness is not by lack of companions but simply a state of mind.
And when you realise this, you will realise there’s no need to be cool, to follow trends, to adhere to opinions, no.
There will be a stamp in your heart “Who Cares What You Think”.
You will just follow what you think and feel is right, and you will feel content with that.
You will realise, you come to this earth alone, you will die and go off alone, yet find serenity in your heart.
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away"
- Henry David Thoreau, Walden
You can read it online here:-
http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html#toc