Improving My Soul's Estate

The essayist, poet, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote "He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul's estate." To me, this means that true relaxation does not necessarily mean a trip to a Hawaiian 5-star hotel or a weekend sipping umbrella-laced cocktails by the pool. No, instead true leisure is the fruit of regular and practiced acts of discipline that when demonstrated over a period of time become the source of strength, sanity, happiness, and tranquility. In short, everything for which leisure stands. I often think of playing my cello as leisure because through the work and discipline of learning to play the blasted thing, I am transported into another place.

I thought of Mr. Thoreau this weekend while working up in Big Bear. The cabin is such a place of refuge for me, and at the same time there is always something to do, something to repair, something to improve.

For example, I had long wanted to design and construct a small pathway down the eastern side of Sweet Sienna. The path as I envisioned, would have a series of stepping stones set in a lane of fresh bark. I thought the brick colored stones could tie in nicely with the rust colored trim of the house, and would also do a find job of protecting my white stocking feet from the dirt, pine needles, and coyote droppings that are inherent risks when gathering firewood in the evening.

The job itself was not complicated per se, but it did require a certain amount of engineering and of course supplies. The most expensive ingredient was bark. But I know a logging operation over in Lake Arrowhead where I can get all the bark I need for $10. I spent most of Saturday filling up the Jeep with big bags of bark. I then purchased bender board to define the path, landscape cloth when keeps the weeds from growing up between the bark, and stepping stones. All-in-all, I think I spend under $70 for the while affair.

Sunday was blistering hot as I began to dig and level the raw dirt outside the cabin. The air was filled with fire smoke from the Southern California wild fires. But I persevered and cut the path, then shaped it, lined it with cloth and finally hauled up the bark and brick steps.
In the end, I’m not really sure it looks as good as I had hoped and probably won’t add much value, but still I couldn’t help but feel the positive effects of true leisure brought about by the small improvement I had made to my soul’s estate.

"He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul's estate."