On Walking

Henry David Thoreau’s essay Walking isn’t just about nature—it’s a diagnosis of modern life’s deepest tragedy: we’ve become estranged from our wild selves. In a world dominated by left-brain thinking that treats everything as a resource to exploit, we’ve lost our contemplative spaces and buried our primordial desire to wander. The irony is that we’re all walkers at heart—visit any beach or forest and feel that irresistible pull to just walk wherever the path leads. Thoreau’s essay penetrated the silt of modernity that has accumulated over our inner romantic spirit, revealing what we’ve sacrificed for progress. The question remains: what do we need to walk in peace again?

My reflections on reading the essay.