There is one person I was recently introduced to who I might consider the king of reflecting. Reflecting is basically what he did, but he did not just reflect in his head, he used pen and paper. He is known as one of the all time great writers now, Fitz even considers him the greatest. That person is Thoreau, a master at using his words to amplify the impact of the stories of his life experiences. Recently I have been reading his essay called Walden.  They are a series of stories from life experiences he had, but Thoreau did not just tell us about these experiences, he explored, rethought, and reflected upon them. Within one of his stories I found a quote that stood out to me, it is one of those beliefs that made me think a for a little while, which Thoreau does a lot in his writing, but it stood out as one of the more important quotes to me. Thoreau wrote:

Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them. 

Not only did Thoreau reflect upon himself and his own actions, he decided to acknowledge what he saw around him. He reflected upon those people who he believes made mistakes in how to live their life to achieve happiness. As he explores in the quote above, most men he witnessed, though they lived in a free country, were so caught up in their working lives that the “finer fruits cannot be plucked by them” as in the potential for enjoyment in their lives was not reached. That is one of the reflective beliefs that I completely agree with. We need to live our lives with open minds, and spend time doing the things we love. 

Shifting to a different way in which Thoreau reflected, he also reflects upon things he did in his life which bettered his experience on this earth, and he shared them with us through his essays. His reflecting was not only beneficial to him, but it was also beneficial to those who read his writing. 

For more than five years I maintained myself thus solely by the labor of my hands, and I found that, by working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living.

Throughout his experiences in life, Thoreau learned about, and explained through his writing, many things which are necessary to live an ideal life. By reflecting on his life like this he was able to discover more about who and what was important and necessary to him. Personally I have only been alive for 15 years. I have so much ahead of me that I will be able to reflect on in the future. My job as a person right now is to live life to the fullest, try my hardest in everything I do, and to create the memories which I will be able to reflect on later in life and use to my advantage. As we can all tell from Thoreaus writing, reflection is a key aspect of life. 

On a similar note to what I just stated a few sentences ago, Thoreau also believes in the fact that we need to live as excitingly and freely as we can until the time comes that we become occupied in greater, more challenging things in life.

As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.

This quote to me is a very impactful quote. While you are free and uncommitted you need to enjoy that time, find the things you really want to do in life. Find passions and appreciate time that you get to spend with family and friends. Thoreau uses these words to reflect on life experiences that he had, and how eventually in life we become committed to things, and our focus drifts towards that. Like an occupation. So as Thoreau reflected with his words above, live life free and uncommitted as long as possible. 

Reflective thought is a key component of our lives. It helps us validate beliefs we stir up throughout our lifetime. It gets us to remember good time in our lives spent with good people. And it brings happiness to us. After concluding this essay about reflective thought, I realize that truly, reflecting is a powerful thing.