#72 - Celebrating Wisdom: Embracing Joy and Independence with Kierkegaard and Thoreau

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Embark on a journey with me, Gus Holland, where the simplicity of joyous living meets the intricacy of thought. This episode is a celebration, not just of my birthday but of the profound wisdom found within Soren Kierkegaard's musings and Henry David Thoreau's 'Walden'. Engaging with life's experiences rather than puzzling over them is a theme we unravel, and I invite you to lighten the load of your weeks by perceiving life through this enlivening lens. 'Walden' may challenge you with its dense prose, yet it's a treasure map to a world where nature and self-reliance guide us to personal discovery and independence—themes that are as significant now as they were in 1854.

I'm cutting to the chase in this short and sweet session, sharing resources to quench your intellectual thirst. For the bookworms, I touch upon apps like Libby and LibriVox, where a plethora of literary classics await your exploration—at no cost. And for the fitness enthusiasts among us, I drop a hint about some upcoming free workout plans designed to invigorate your physical regimen. As always, your support is invaluable; if these words resonate, pass them along to friends who might also appreciate a weekly dose of motivation. Until next time, keep striving, keep thriving, and thank you for joining me on the Way of Life.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everybody and welcome to another episode of
Way of Life.
I'm your host, gus Holland.
Today is going to be a quicklittle motivational episode to
start Gels' week off, hopefullyin the right direction.
Soren Kierkegaard once saidthat life is not a problem to be
solved, but a reality to beexperienced.
Although that's not the onlyphilosophy I think you should go

(00:21):
by, I think that is a wonderfulway to start this week.
I say to not take yourself oryour situation too seriously
this week and, whether you'reinside or outside of the gym, to
remember to have fun and enjoythe moments of life that you
have.
An excellent book that coversthat same topic is Walden by

(00:43):
Henry David Theroux.
That book it is older and Ibelieve it's in the public
domain, so you can find it forfree in several spots.
You might even be able to findan audio book on YouTube or
something for free, but it is alittle bit more of a difficult
read.
It has a very descriptivelanguage, long sentences, long

(01:07):
paragraphs.
So just keep that in mind andit was written in a different
time, but it does kind of coverthat same topic.
As a quote, the description ofthe book is that the text is a
reflection upon the author'ssimple living in natural
surroundings.
The work is part personaldeclaration of independence,
social experiment, voyage ofspiritual discovery, satire and,

(01:31):
to some degree, a manual forself-reliance.
It was written in 1854 and istechnically under the memoir
genre, but that does kind ofit's kind of in the same realm
as that quote and it'd besomething cool to look into.
Other than that, formotivational stuff, there's
always the gem playlist that thepodcast puts out.

(01:55):
Currently have a rap and a rockslash metal one.
Those are both going to be inthe description below.
Also, in regards to, I know lotsof times on these motivational
episodes I list books that youcan look into, read, and
normally they are in the publicdomain, which means that they're
old enough to, most of the time, be found free somewhere.

(02:20):
So two different apps are LibbyL-I-B-B-Y, and that is actually
linked to whichever locallibrary that you can have a
membership at and that's free aslong as you have a library card
, and normally a library card isfree or only a few dollars.

(02:41):
The other one is LibriVoxL-I-B-R-I-V-O-X, excuse me, and
that's an app that I don't thinkyou even need an account for
really and that has a lot offree stuff, mostly in the public
domain.
Some of it is newer stuffthat's submitted by the authors,

(03:03):
but that is an excellent sourceto read classic literature,
philosophical texts, scientificworks and even fantasy slash
fiction from longer ago.
I am sorry that this is ashorter episode.
Yesterday was my birthday andobviously I was celebrating, but

(03:25):
I want to really wish y'all anexcellent week.
If you've stuck around this far, I want to tell everyone that
Wednesday, march 27th, I'll beannouncing a way to get some
free programming free, notactual personal training, but

(03:46):
some free workout plans.
So, whether you're new toworking out or just looking for
a different program to try out,I will be announcing on
Wednesday exactly how to get afree program from me.
As always, if you enjoyed theepisode, feel free to share it
with a friend.
That is the number one thingthat helps the podcast grow and

(04:08):
I greatly appreciate everybody'ssupport support thus far.
You can check outwayoflifepodcastcom.
That's where the blog, all ofthe merch and all of the
different areas that you canlisten or watch the podcast.
Everything's linked there.
Other than that, have anexcellent weekend.

(04:30):
Thank you all so much for thesupport and I'll be talking to
y'all soon.
Bye.