Second Growth

 February 16, 2021

On Thoreau’s Journals:

#1 Second Growth

I am just beginning to read The Journal 1837-1861, Henry David Thoreau (Edited by Damion Searls, 2009)

I am struck by part of Thoreau’s initial entry which is subtitled “The Mould Our Deeds Leave”. Moralistic aphorisms abound which exhort us to consider our current actions in light of the future. While generally true, they are often spouted without context or explanation and thus have the tendency to ring hollow and are often written off as trite. Thoreau chooses to begin his journalling life with one such thought which we’ve all heard often enough, “As I live now so also  I reap.” It is not the uniqueness of this expression by which I am struck; rather, it is the context within which he applies it, that of nature. It is his brief explanation of this idea that has made me pause to consider it in a fresh light.

    “Every part of nature teaches that the passing away of one life is the making room for
     another. The oak dies down to the ground, leaving within its rind a rich virgin mould,
     which will impart a vigorous life to an infant forest. The pine leaves a sandy and sterile
     soil, the harder woods a strong and fruitful mould.”  

I’m not sure of the science of this, but I think that the illustration is clear which Thoreau then applies to the human condition.

    “So this constant abrasion and decay makes the soil of my future growth” (emphasis
     added)

And then, he continues with the familiar aphorism.

    “As I live now so shall I reap”

Enlightened further through this explanation.

    “If I grow pines and birches, my virgin mould will not sustain the oak; but pines and
     birches, or, perchance, weeds and brambles, will constitute my second growth.”

My current thoughts, actions, interactions with myself, with others, with nature…continue to impact as a kind of mulch or growth agent (or growth inhibitor) for thoughts and actions to come. It strikes me also that this doesn’t just apply to my own growth. The “mould” that is left from what I produce also impacts the world around me. It is not only my “second growth” that is impacted but also that of the world around me.

And so, the question; how do the actions in which I engage through thought or deed impact both my future growth and the growth of the world around me?

As I begin reading and annotating some almost 700 pages of Thoreau’s Journal, I wonder how what I read here will contribute to my second growth and to that of the people and nature with which I come in contact. Here we go off on another adventure.