Abandon Book Learning, by Kallie Friel

The overwhelming presence of green around me fills me with the feeling of being refreshed. My mind has been racing non-stop lately due to all the stress going on in my life right now, and being in the woods for just a few moments has already cleared my mind of all those worries. I feel like a blank slate, ready to allow my mind to wander as I sit and observe my beautiful surroundings. I’m not sure if all of the new leaves and grass are being reflected in the creek, but the water looks a lot more green today; it seems like a sparkling jade color that I haven’t seen before this semester. The woods are particularly vibrant and full of life today. I am amazed at how different this spot looks from the first time I came about 2 and a half months ago. It is almost unrecognizable.

One of my favorite things about spring is that the leaves are now visible, which makes it so much easier to identify the types of trees by their leaf shapes. However, I noticed that the huge tree towering next to me did not have any leaves on it. I gazed up at the tree beside me; it’s massiveness made me feel tiny and insignificant in my little mandala. All of the life forms here have a specific system and order to them, and here I sit, a mere outside observer to the complexity of the White Clay ecosystem. It is almost too complex to understand how everything is connected and is able to function properly. I wonder what it would be like if someone tried to observe me and tried to understand how my brain works and why I do what I do.

After reading some of Tao Te Ching, I realized that everything in my life is so stressful, mainly because of school and trying to find a job. Working towards these things such as an education, diploma, and a job that pays well consumes most people’s lives and inhibits them from actually “living.” Verse 12 states that we waste energy to obtain these objects (like a diploma and money), but we should not let ourselves become obsessed with these “material” things, and focus on our inner well-being. I interpreted this to mean that we need to spend less time worrying about school and work and money, and more time doing what makes you happy and figure out what it is in life that you enjoy and do that.

Verse 19 also seems to have a similar message. “Abandon book learning, discard the rules of behavior and the people will have no worries, abandon plots and schemes, discard profit-seeking and the people will not become thieves. These lessons are mere elaborations. The essence of my teachings is this: see with original purity, embrace with original simplicity, reduce what you have, decrease what you want.” Our society is conditioned to work as hard as you can for as much money as you can get, so you can buy a bunch of things that you don’t need. We should not base our lives around school and work, but try to live a fulfilling life outside of them. If we reduce the amount of material things we want, we will be so much happier with what we already have. We should learn to enjoy the simple things in life, such as the peacefulness of being in the woods. This will put our minds more at ease rather than constantly being stressed and anxious. With the end of the semester right around the corner, it almost seems impossible to focus on anything else right now rather than school, finals, and finding an internship. I need to work on spending more time relaxing my mind and doing what makes me happy, besides my weekly trip to the woods.