04/19/2026
✨ One idea to keep it slow and simple… An account of what matters
Have you watched the three-part PBS series on Henry David Thoreau? Highly recommend!
In Thoreau’s Walden his main goal, as he writes it, is to provide “a simple and sincere account of his own life” in his cabin in the woods where he lived simply for two years.
He takes that accounting quite seriously, and in the chapter on “Economy” he identifies only four necessesities for living: food, shelter, clothing, and fuel. (We might add community to the list.) He then gives detailed accounts of how he goes about acquiring these necessities.
And while he accounts for where his money goes, he is most concerned with accounting for his time and thus his freedom.
If you were to keep a detailed account of everything you spend time and money on for a day or a week, what do you think you would see? How would it make you feel? What would you change if you could?
