Thoreau grabbed my attention right away. I am the type of person with extreme OCD and absolutely HATE when there is writing, marking, etc in my books. Now if it is a book that I don't care about for a class that I don't really want to take, then it is ok, but for the majority of my textbooks, I refuse to put any sort of marking in them. I made an exception for Thoreau. I really had to stop myself and question why I was willing to put pencil marks on the pages of this reading. My only explanation: there are just too many good quotes I don't want to forget.
The first one that I marked was right away in the second paragraph. "I trust that none will stretch the seams in putting on the coat, for it may do good service to him whom it fits." This quote reminded me not only of the times where I am trying to squeeze into a cute pair of jeans when I should really just let someone buy them who they actually fit, but it also reminds me of the times where I take on responsibilities that are better fit for another individual. In life, it is better to do what you can do and let others do what they can do. For me, I am constantly battling myself with taking on too much and not letting someone else do some of the work. This quote serves as a reminder that there are people who will succeed and enjoy doing something that I may stress over.
Another aspect of Thoreau that I enjoyed was the idea that we live our lives going about our day-to-day business and living like a machine. I can't think of anything else that better describes me! A lot of the readings we have done in this class have been reminders for me as far as trying to really enjoy life and "stop to smell the roses." I wonder how many times I need to be hit over the head with this before it will actually sink in?? Shall we take bets..... :)
I am willing to let go of my OCD a little bit and possibly mark more in my book as the semester continues.
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