Finding Your Walden

The hero for our time is someone few people get right. Thoreau wasn’t a hermit in the woods. He lived in a time like ours, of technological revolution, political division, economic uncertainty, and pandemic.

Thoreau, like us, reassessed his priorities: What does success really look like? What is my duty as an ethical citizen of a less-than-ethical world? How can I live a good life amid (insert hand-sweeping gesture) all of this? His solution: Pare down to trade up.

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Also available: Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Finding Your Walden book cover

ABOUT THE BOOK

“Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify.”
– Walden, Henry David Thoreau

Finding Your Walden combines classic lit with happiness studies, exploring how experts support Thoreau’s ideas as inspiration for today’s Great Reassessment. It shares stories of people who embrace Thoreau’s pare-down-to-trade-up philosophy today. They inspire us to apply creativity and simplicity to the experiment of life.

Whether you love Walden or haven’t read it, you can join Thoreau on a path to discover an intentional life during a volatile time—you just need to make a stop at a cabin on the way.

Reviews

Jen McGivney’s clear and charming book brings Thoreau’s teachings into our modern world of noise and distraction, and grapples with the big questions, mainly: What kind of life do we want to live?”

Tommy Tomlinson, author of Dogland and The Elephant in the Room

The result is a graceful introduction of essential themes from one of the best American writers… I would go so far as to say, Thoreau would read this book and think, she gets me.”

Jon M. Sweeney, Spirituality & Practice

As she teases out the lessons Thoreau learned on the shores of Walden Pond, McGivney draws on dozens of stories that show how people in our own time have escaped quiet desperation and began to live the lives they imagined. So can we.”

John J. Kucich, PhD, President of the Thoreau Society, Professor of English, Bridgewater State University

The Five Walden Principles

1

Know the True Cost of Things.
We pay with more than money. We pay with our time, energy, and attention — we pay with life.

2

Create Space Between You and the World.
Find peace–and insight–with a little distance.

3

Embrace Your Inner Misfit.
To stand apart while standing tall is a superpower.

4

Know What You Work For.
Know when and why to take a job, and when and why to quit one.

5

Spend Life Lavishly.
Simplifying isn’t about having less. It’s making room for what matters more.

In the Media

We’ve Gotten Walden All Wrong: What We Miss When We Miss the Point of Thoreau’s Call to ‘Simplify, simplify’
Simplify Magazine

“When people distill Walden down to a tattoo or bumper sticker, it’s usually its most famous line: ‘Simplify, simplify.’ But it’s easy to miss what Thoreau simplified for. He didn’t simplify to have and to do less; he simplified to have and to do more of what mattered. To trade up, he pared down.”

A Plea to Revisit an American Classic: Jen Tota McGivney Reexamines Thoreau in Her New Book, Finding Your Walden
Charlotte Magazine

“Parallels between Thoreau’s time and ours have grown unfortunately similar (politics, technology, and pandemic, oh my). Distractions and isolation plague us. Injustices require action. In Finding Your Walden, I turn Thoreau’s ideas into a five-part philosophy of living well, even now—especially now. In this precedented time, Thoreau’s ideas are just the company we need.”

Finding Your Walden
Sustainable Minimalist Podcast

“In the literary classic Walden, Henry David Thoreau looks at his fast-changing, conflict-ridden, overpriced world and asks big questions about living well in uncertain times. Is it possible to live a simpler way in 2025? Are we making life harder than it needs to be? On today’s show, author Jen Tota McGivney reintroduces us to  a literary classic about how to live well in an era that’s rapidly changing.”

What Henry David Thoreau Can Teach Us About Living Well
Becoming Minimalist

“To say that we live in unprecedented times is to needlessly create feelings of anxiety and isolation. But to reach across time to connect with someone who has gone through something similar—to read a classic book and to recognize ourselves in it—is to find the company we need to move forward, to live the best lives we can in the moment we’re in.”

Simplify, Simplify: Modern Wisdom from Thoreau’s Walden | Jen Tota McGivney
MinimalistMoms – Podcast

In this episode, Diane chats with Jen Tota McGivney, the author of Finding Your Walden about how Henry David Thoreau’s timeless wisdom can help us simplify, strive less, and embrace what truly matters. Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed or craving a slower pace, this conversation offers thoughtful insight and modern applications of Thoreau’s classic call to live deliberately.

Jen McGivney on “Finding Your Walden”
Piedmont Arts Podcast

Henry David Thoreau’s Walden was written in 1854 but has lessons for life in the 21st century. In her new book Finding Your Walden, Charlotte author Jen McGivney explores how the ideas in Walden can help people navigate modern life—from career crossroads to everyday overwhelm—with more clarity and intention.

Finding Your Walden
Debts No Honest Man Can Pay – Podcast

On this week’s show, we welcome back our good friend and Charlotte Magazine back page columnist Jen Tota McGivney to talk about her new book, Finding Your Walden: How to Strive Less, Simplify More & Embrace What Matters Most. Listen as we discuss an important topic: Which songs belong on a Thoreau-inspired playlist?

Author Spotlight: Jen Tota McGivney
Sarahlyn Bruck

Jen Tota McGivney joins the Spotlight to chat about her latest book, Finding Your Walden

Events

Thoreau Farm, co-sponsored by The Walden Woods Project
Finding Your Walden: A Book Talk with Jen Tota McGivney

Concord, MA
November 9, 2025, 2:00 p.m.
Attend in-person or over Zoom – FREE to attend!

Register to attend in-person
Register to attend over Zoom

Finding Your Walden Wellness Retreat
Peninsula Pastoral Counseling Center 

Roslyn Retreat Center – Richmond, Va.
September 13, 2025

Main Street Books:
Finding Your Walden Book Signing and Conversation with David Boraks

Davidson, NC
Thursday, July 17, 2025, 7:00 p.m.

Thoreau Society Gathering
Happy Hour Book Sale & Celebration

Concord, MA
Saturday, July 12, 2025, 4:45 p.m.
Come celebrate Henry’s 208th birthday! Free and open to the public.

Fred & June’s Books
Finding Your Walden Book Signing and Conversation

Mooresville, NC
Thursday, June 5, 6:00 p.m.

Park Road Books:
Finding Your Walden Book Signing and Conversation with Tommy Tomlinson

Charlotte, NC
Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Photo Gallery

Park Road Books event

About the author

Jen Tota McGivney

Jen Tota McGivney is a writer in Charlotte, North Carolina. She’s the back-page columnist for Charlotte Magazine, and her work also appears in SUCCESS Magazine, Simplify Magazine, and Our State Magazine, among others. She has a master’s degree in English and a soft spot for the transcendentalists. Finding Your Walden is her first book.

If you’re interested in hosting a book event or talk about Finding Your Walden, contact Jen.

Jen Tota McGivney