Thoreau on Facebook

Our life is frittered away by detail. . . Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million, count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumbnail." - Thoreau

I became "friends" with a former student from my high school classes just recently. She was the salutatorian after FOUR valedictorians---quite a competitive group for a class of fewer than 70 people. I had lost touch with her, but through the wonders of Facebook, we have reconnected. I was especially pleased to see the quote today as her status. As my juniors read Walden, and I seriously doubt that many of them actually did, I would point out to them my favorite passages, for the reason I just stated---I seriously doubt that many of them actually read anything by Thoreau or Emerson, for that matter.

Even though I stressed that passage and encouraged them, as juniors in high school, to simplify their lives, I knew that simplicity would be the one word that didn't define the lives of any of them, especially those in the college-bound track.

Why don't we simplify? We try, with microwaves, computers, debit cards, Nooks/Kindles, Blackberries, and now iPads. In the long run though, do these devises actually simplify our lives or just make them even more complicated?

Granted I can call my husband from my cell phone if and when I ever need assistance due to car problems on my 35 minute drive from Logansport to our house. Yes, I can defrost something quickly in the microwave upon my return home. It is much easier to communicate with students through Ivy Tech email and I save so much paper by posting the assignment sheets on Blackboard. But how much time do I spend posting assignments in the Pods for American Lit? What happened to the midterms from ENGL 222 last fall when they disappeared into the black hole of Blackboard? Do I really need access to the Internet through my cell phone, at any time, any place (as long as I have a signal!)?

Thanks, Dynelle, for reminding me of this passage. Every so often I need to be prodded to remember that simplifying my life should be my focus more often than not.