Thursday, April 16
“One morning I was shaving in a restroom when an old man came in, and observing me, asked me if I was ‘sleeping out’. I told him yes, and it turned out that he had this old trailer that I could stay in for free. The only problem is that he doesn’t really own it. Some absentee owners are merely letting him live on their land here, in another little trailer he stays in. So I kind of have to keep things toned down and stay out of sight, because he isn’t supposed to have anybody over here. It’s really quite a good deal, though, for the inside of the trailer is nice, it’s a house trailer, furnished, with some of the electric sockets working and a lot of living space. The only drawback is this old guy, whose name is Charlie, is something of a lunatic and it’s rather difficult to get along with him sometimes.”
Into the Wild, Chapter 5
By the time I was eighteen years old I had already fallen in love and had my heart broken. That would happen again several times afterward. Eventually, I would forgive and become friends with *almost* every single person who broke my heart.
Journal: Tell me about a time when your heart was broken. It doesn’t have to be romantic love, it could be any relationship that hurt you. Do you feel a desire to see that relationship restored? Can you imagine forgiving that hurt? How does that look in your mind?
Friday, April 17
It was formerly the custom in our village, when a poor debtor came out of jail, for his acquaintances to salute him, looking through their fingers, which were crossed to represent the grating of a jail window, “How do ye do?” My neighbors did not thus salute me, but first looked at me, and then at one another, as if I had returned from a long journey. I was put into jail as I was going to the shoemaker’s to get a shoe which was mended. When I was let out the next morning, I proceeded to finish my errand, and, having put on my mended shoe, joined a huckleberry party, who were impatient to put themselves under my conduct; and in half an hour, –for the horse was soon tackled—was in the midst of a huckleberry field, on one of our highest hills, two miles off; and then the State was nowhere to be seen.
This is the whole history of “My Prisons.”
~Civil Disobedience, Thoreau
Journal: Henry David Thoreau is one of many philosophers who spent some time in jail. He was put in prison for failure to pay taxes. Imagine yourself behind bars for several weeks, like Thoreau. Write a letter to your friends and family.
Song of the Day: My Hometown, by Charlie Robinson. Song selection by B.H.