Though living out every belief of Thoreau’s may not be possible for all, being self-sufficient eliminates the dependability of a person on another, allows one to see what it takes to live alone, and gives more power to the individual. By becoming self-sufficient, one is able to truly determine who they are as a person as well as determining why certain people are in their lives.
For the past four and a half days, I chose to be self-sufficient in a world revolving around dependability. Each day, millions of people rely on others to keep them functioning. However, during these four and a half days, I learned exactly what it was like to live alone – by myself – with no outside interference. My parents became unwilling to help me during this time, causing me to find my own ways to live. Between cooking my own meals, doing my own laundry, cleaning my house, and even paying for my own gas, I realized just how tough it really is to live. Throughout this time, I realized that I was taking a lot of things for granted. Previously, I would always ask my father uncaringly for fifty dollars every two weeks to use as gas money. By filling up my gas tank with my own money, I found myself not wanting to go places because I wanted my gas to last me for a while. Although Thoreau probably was not worried about having to fill up a gas tank in the 1800s, he was, however, determined to live his life as unaided and simple as he could, just like me. This journey of self-reliance taught me that I do not need to rely on the things of this world, but rather, focus on myself and everything else around me would work itself out. Granted, the journey was tough at times, I still survived – which is why I am writing this paper. I realized that I have the capacity to survive on my own if and when that situation arises.
Rather than only being dependent on people for their survival, many individuals also develop a dependency for technology to survive. For the past four and a half days, I successfully lived without technology. Though it may have felt Amish-like at times; I particularly enjoyed it. The technology fast helped to make me a more independent person. I had no time to use my cell phone, watch television, or even sleep (so it seemed) because I was busy taking care of myself. Now that the fast is over, I find myself not wanting to check Twitter every time I log on my computer. I am able to focus on the tasks that lie in front of me, rather than become distracted by what someone tweeted. Technology became less important within this time; whereas, my survival became my first priority. I believe that if the world was without technology, we would be able to efficiently live the simplistic lifestyle Thoreau and many others longed for.
In conclusion, self-sufficiency causes one to be dependent on themselves rather than those around, see what it takes to live alone, and shows the individual that survival is in fact obtainable. Although I am probably not going to be building my own house without the help of others, or live in the woods by myself, like Thoreau did, this journey of self-sufficiency showed me that I am capable of living on my own in this big world. This is quintessential if I plan on surviving even the first day of college. In college, the individual is expected to survive without the everyday help of parents. This tactic is used to prepare them for the real world. My mother and father will not be there every step of the way for the rest of my life, so by undergoing this process, I was able to become less dependent on my parents, and more dependent on myself. However, I hope my father will still pay for my gas tomorrow.