A Hound, Bayhorse, and Turtledove:

A Hound, Bayhorse, and Turtledove:
On Their Trail with Henry David Thoreau
by
Jeffrey A. Waters

Contents
Introduction
Relaxation Process
First Theme: Identity
Second Theme: Possessions
Third Theme: Relationships
Fourth Theme: Death

The purpose of this program is to better understand Thoreau's life and writings within the context of one's own life. The program is built upon four Thoreauvian themes: identity, relationships, possessions, and death. Each theme has five parts:

Readings: The readings are designed to give context to each theme presented. Participants should be encouraged to read the text through once or twice, preferably the night before each session.

Lectures: (optional) Lectures should be designed to give more context and depth to the readings. The lectures should not simply be an outline of the readings, but make connections between the reading and Thoreau's life.

Reflections: The reflections are the very heart of the program. Provided are simple suggestions and exercises that you can use to physically prepare the participants. A couple of suggestions: First, make sure you speak very slowly and gently while reading the reflection. If it is too busy at the locations suggested, try to find another more suitable place. Finally, know the participants. If you are doing the reflection on Possessions for high school students, mention some of the things they are concerned about (e.g. money for a car of college, clothes, etc.).

Journal Questions: The journal questions give the participants a chance to articulate some of the questions posed in the reflection. Allow the participants to complete the questions immediately following the reflection.

Discussion: Discussion is important as people can learn a great deal from listening to others. No one should be forced to speak, but it is important that all participants are encouraged to speak. Make sure you are up front with the group about respecting others' opinions and confidentiality.

Completion of the program should achieve three goals. First, become more familiar with the writings of Henry David Thoreau and, to a lesser extent, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Second, become better acquainted with sites in Concord that were important in the life of Thoreau. Finally, and most important, to better understand one's own life -- and the appropriate response -- to Thoreau's life and writings.

Relaxation Process before Reflections

Before you move into the reflection part of the exercise, the participants need to be encouraged to relax physically. The following method will help get the participants relaxed and ready for meditation. Make sure while performing this process that your voice is calm, clear, and quiet.

To begin, sit as comfortably as you can. Generally it helps to rest both feet on the ground; rest your arms in your lap...Now breath slowly in...and out...in...and out...as you breath in I want you to breath through your nose only. Now as you're breathing through your nose...in...out...as you breath out I want you to push your tongue to the roof of your mouth. What this does is create a slight "pull" on the heart that makes it more efficient and allows your lungs to expel all of the carbon dioxide from them. Let's try it: Breath in through the nose, nice deep breath...and as you're breathing out, push your tongue to the roof of your mouth and push -- gently -- the air out of your lungs. You'll know when you're doing it right when -- as you push the air out of your lungs -- you sound similar to Darth Vader. Remember Darth Vader's breathing in the Star Wars Trilogy? You should hear a low queezing sound coming from your mouth. Let's take a few minutes focussing on our Darth Vader breathing.

Now give your body a chance to relax too...starting with your feet, let go of any tension by first tightening up the muscles and then relaxing them...tighten...relax...Now do the same with your legs...tighten...relax...Now your torso...tighten...relax...Let your arms rest too...Feel the tension of the day melt away...Relax your shoulders and your neck...Finally, feel your jaw and your facial muscles relax...tighten...relax...Breath in and out slowly...in...and out...

When you feel the participants are relaxed, proceed with the reflection.

First Theme: Identity

Reading: Walden: "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For"
Lecture: (optional)
Reflection: Henry David Thoreau Statue

After the lecture, travel down to the statue of Thoreau that is located next to the parking lot at Walden Pond. If you can't visit the statue itself, you can acquire pictures of the statue from the Walden Pond Shop for a nominal fee. You can also use pictures of Thoreau to help the participants visualize Thoreau in their reflection.

Make sure you allow participants to feel the statue and ask them to look very carefully at the "nooks and crannies" of it. If it's quiet enough, have the participants sit around the statue. After following the physical relaxation process described above, proceed with the following guided reflection. This guided reflection deals with identity. It is intended to help participants understand their own identity and encourage them to see themselves from a Thoreauvian point of view.

A sculptor has been asked to make a statue of you that is much like Thoreau's statue. The statue is ready and you go to Walden Woods to have a look at it before it appears in public...

As you walk down the path it is very dark, but you see light coming through the trees in the distance and your statue is there covered with a cloth. You walk up to the statue and take the cloth off...

Then you step back and look at your statue. What is your first impression? Are you pleased or dissatisfied? Notice all the details in your statue: how big is it? What color is it? What material is it made of? What kind of "nooks and crannies" does it have? Walk around it...see it from different angles...look at it from afar, then come closer and look at the details...touch the statue...notice whether it is rough or smooth...cold or warm to the touch. What parts of the statue to you like? What parts do you dislike? Are you holding anything in your hands?

Say something to the statue. What does the statue reply? What do you say in return? Keep on speaking as long as you or the statue have something to say. Now, become the statue. What does it feel like to be your statue? What kind of existence do you have as a statue?

I want you to imagine now that, while you are your statue, Henry David Thoreau comes walking down the trail and up to you. How does he look at you? What do you feel while he looks at you? What does he say to you? What do you say in reply? Continue the dialogue as long as either Thoreau or you have something to say...

After a while Thoreau turns and starts walking up the trail. Now return to yourself and look at the statue again. Is there any change in the statue? Is there any change in you or in your feelings? Do you look at yourself differently?

Now say farewell to your statue and start walking back down the trail. Take a minute or two to do this, then open your eyes.

Journal Activity

Ask the participants to go off on their own for a while and journal about the following questions:
          a. What are the details of your statue? (size, color, texture, material,                     temperature)
          b. What did you talk about with your statue?
          c. How did it feel to become your statue?
          d. How did you feel when Thoreau came up and started to talk to you? What
                  did he say to you?
          e. After you came out of your statue, did you look and/or feel any different?
          f. How do you think this reflection relates to the reading?

Discussion

Give the participants anywhere from 30-60 minutes to journal, and then have them assemble either at the statue or some other suitable location.

Although each discussion has its own dynamic to which you must be attentive, try to focus the discussion on the readings, the reflection, and the participants' identity in light of the reflections. Remember, the goal is to encourage the participants to think about their own identity, and how contact with the life and writings of Henry David Thoreau can impact that identity.

Second Theme: Possessions

Reading: Life Without Principle; Walden: "Economy" (suggested)
Lecture: (optional)
Reflection: Thoreau's House and Walden Pond

After the lecture, bring the participants to Thoreau's House, located next to the parking lot at Walden Pond, After a talk about the house, move your way along the trail to the original location of the house. After following the physical relaxation process, proceed with the following guided reflection. The purpose of this reflection is to focus on the notion that security does not come from money or possessions, but from self-trust and self-reliance.

Imagine yourself walking around Walden Pond. You'd like to relax, but you find that you can't shut off your mind. You have a busy schedule...a lot of hours to work at your job this weekend, and when will you get your car fixed? You'd like to travel more, work less, and if you don't buy some new clothes soon, people are going to start wondering what's wrong with you. Your mind runs on and on...as you approach Thoreau's house site you hardly notice a man sitting on the rock pile next to it. But he sees you, and he seems concerned about you. He looks into your face, which is tight and worried, and says with a grin, "I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if you will live simply and wisely...It is not necessary that you should earn your living by the sweat of your brow, unless you sweat easier than I do." You are startled when you realize who this person is. It's Henry David Thoreau!

He points to the pond and continues, "On a peaceful day the pond is as peaceful as a mirror, set round with stones as precious to my eye as if fewer or rarer...Sky waters. It needs no fence...It is a mirror which no stone can crack, whose quicksilver will never wear off, whose gilding Nature continually repairs; no storms, no dust, can dim its surface ever fresh;-- a mirror in which all impurity presented to it sinks, swept and dusted by the sun's hazy brush, -- this the light dust-cloth, -- which retains no breath that is breathed on it, but sends its own to float as clouds high above the surface, and be reflected in its bosom still....A field of water betrays the spirit that is in the air. It is continually receiving new life and motion from above...Do not live in want. A person is rich in proportion to the things he or she can live without. Be at one with Nature, take care of it, enjoy it, look at all you have..." He looks straight into your eyes and says, "Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity, I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand...and keep your accounts on your thumbnail."

You feel Thoreau's words. You respond and tell him what you think. You stay with him for a while. Finally, he turns and walks down the trail and out of your view.

Journal Activity

         a. What do you think you could do to simplify your life?
         b. What would you keep? What would you give away?
         c. What are some things you could do that are enjoyable without spending
                  money?
         d. What and where is your "treasure?"

Discussion

In the discussion, encourage the participants to see "the essential facts" in their lives. Help them to focus on what is important -- what can be done to simplify their lives (and not over-simplify!).

Third Theme: Relationships

Reading: Walden: "Visitors" and "Solitude"
Lecture: (optional)
Reflection: Emerson's House, Concord

Take a tour of Emerson's Home and bring the participants into the garden at the back of the house. After following the physical relaxation process, proceed with the following guided reflection. The purpose of this reflection is to encourage the participants to reflect on the different relationships they have in their lives -- as well as the role of solitude -- and the roles those relationships play in their own personal development.

Envision yourself sitting on a bench in this garden one-hundred and fifty years ago. You can see Emerson's fruit trees swaying in the soft breeze. The sun caresses your face. Birds flit among the trees and fly into the pine trees close by. The butterflies float among the flowers. You inhale the fragrances carried on the wind. You breath in and out deeply several times.

You see Thoreau and Emerson walking down the path into the garden. Thoreau stops to examine a dragonfly poised on a bush while Emerson continues to engage him in conversation. You can see that they are listening very attentively to what each other is saying. They see you on the bench and, with a slight wave of their hands, invite you to share in their conversation. When you are close they introduce themselves and you sit down in three chairs under a tree and listen to them speak. They are talking about friendship and Emerson speaks first. "A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. I am arrived at last in the presence of a person so real and equal, that I may drop even those undermost garments of dissimulation, courtesy, and second thought, which persons never put off, and may deal with him with the simplicity and wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another...A friend gives me entertainment without requiring any stipulation on my part. A friend, therefore, is a sort of paradox of nature. I who alone am, I who see nothing in nature whose existence I can affirm with equal evidence to my own, behold now the semblance of my being, in all its height, variety, and curiosity, reiterated in a foreign form; so that a friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature."

Emerson turns to you and says, "Now, my friend, tell me of the people with whom you are friends. Share with me stories of those you are friends with." You tell him about the people that are important in your life, about the people you care most about (allow several minutes of silence for this internal dialogue).

Now Thoreau speaks: "I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among people than when we stay in our chambers...Solitude is not measured by miles of space that intervene between man and his fellows... I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning when nobody calls...I am no more lonely than the loon in the pond that laughs so loud, or than Walden Pond itself. What company has that lonely lake, I pray? And yet it has not the blue devils, but the blue angels in it, in the azure tint of its waters. The sun is alone, except in thick weather, when there appear to be two, but one is a mock sun. God is alone, -- but the devil, he is far from being alone; he sees a great deal of company; he is legion."

Thoreau turns to you and says, "Now tell me, friend, how do you spend your time alone?" (allow several minutes for this internal dialogue to take place).

Journal Activity

          a. What do you think about the qualities of a good friend? Write a definition of
                    friendship.
          b. What are some qualities of a misguided or unhealthy relationship?
          c. Do you think there are different levels in relationships? Describe the different
                    types of relationships you have currently.
          d. Why does Thoreau think solitude is so important in developing good
                    relationships?

Discussion

Focus the discussion on the qualities of friendship and the role friends play in our own development. Also talk about solitude and its necessity for good relationships with
others.

Fourth Theme: Death

Reading: Walden: "Conclusion"
Lecture: (optional)
Reflection: Thoreau's Grave at Sleep Hollow Cemetery, Concord

After the lecture, travel to Thoreau's gravesite at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord. If you can't visit Sleepy Hollow, travel to a local cemetery. Find a comfortable place close to the gravesite (not too close -- many people visit Thoreau's grave throughout the day, you might want to pick a spot at the bottom of the hill). Follow the relaxation process, then proceed with the following guided reflection. This guided reflection deals with death. It is intended to help participants focus on their won mortality and to ask themselves: what can make me eternal? The reflection has been adapted from the story told at the end of Walden about the artist in the city of Kouroo. You can read the story to the participants or you could listen to an excellent reading of the story by Archibald Macleish (Caedmon Audio www.harperaudio.com 1-800-331-3761).

"There was an artist in the city of Kouroo who was disposed to strive after perfection. One day it came into his mind to make a staff. Having considered that in an imperfect work, time is an ingredient, but into a perfect work time does not enter, he said to himself, it shall be perfect in all respects, though I should do nothing else in my life. He proceeded instantly to the forest for wood, being resolved that it should not be made of unsuitable material; and as he searched for and rejected stick after stick, his friends gradually deserted him, for they grew old in their works and died, but he grew not older by a moment. His singleness of purpose and resolution, and his elevated piety, endowed him, without his knowledge, with perennial youth. As he made no compromise with Time, Time kept out of his way, and only sighed at a distance because he could not overcome him. Before he had found a stick in all respects suitable the city of Kouroo was a hoary ruin, and he sat on one of its mounds to peel the stick. Before he had given it a proper shape the dynasty of the Candahars was at an end, and with the point of the stick he wrote the name of the last of that race in the sand, and then resumed his work. By the time he had smoothed and polished the staff Kalpa was no longer the pole-star; and ere he had put on the ferule and the head adorned with precious stones, Brahma had awoke and slumbered many times. But why do I stay to mention these things? When the finishing stroke was put to his work, it suddenly expanded before the eyes of the astonished artist into the fairest of all the creations of Brahma. He had a new system of making the staff, a world with full and fair proportions; in which, though the old cities and dynasties had passed away, fairer and more glorious ones had taken their places. And now he saw by the heap of shavings still fresh at his feet, that for him and his work, the former lapse of time had been an illusion, and that no more time had elapsed than is required for a single scintillation from the brain of Brahma to fall on and inflame the tinder of the mortal brain. The material was pure; and his art was pure; how could the result be other than wonderful?

...However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The faultfinder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is...The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star."

Now I want you to envision yourself at the end of your life -- wherever and whenever that may be. You are reflecting on your life. First you consider all the relationships you have built during your lifetime. Let the faces of all the people who have been important in your life appear before you. Say something to each of them.

Now bring to mind all the personal things you have accomplished in your life: hobbies you've enjoyed, the skills you've mastered, the personal characteristics you've developed, and anything else you're glad to have done.

Reflect on your relationships and your personal development, then ponder your career. What have you done? How does it feel to be looking back now?

Ask yourself, how do I feel about the person I have become? Am I the person I wanted to be? Now bring your mind back to your present life. Focus on one small action you can take today to bring you closer to who you really want to be...that one thing that may enable you to say at the end of your life, "I am where I am today because of this one small action I made that day I was at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery..." When you feel ready, open your eyes.

Journal Activity:

          a. What do you think you could do in your life to make yourself eternal?
          b. When reflecting on the people, hobbies, personal characteristics, etc, who                       and what were some of the people and things you thought about?
          c. If you could write your own obituary what would you write about yourself?                       (e.g. where were you when you died? What would you like to be                       remembered for? Who would be the people that you would miss the                       most? What advice about life would you offer to those reading the                       obituary in the newspaper?)

Discussion:

The focus of the discussion should be to encourage people to live out more fully their own "internal creed."