Burnout as a Designer #2 Returning to the Roots of Creativity with “Walden”
- Aya
- Jun 16
- 9 min read
Updated: Jul 7
※ If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, check out "Burnout as a Designer #1 - Not to Fix, but to Coexist With".
Discovering Classical Minimalist Living through “Walden”
While working as a designer and going through a period of burnout, I felt the need to pause and reconnect with myself.
I wanted to return to my creative roots and began searching for a book that might offer some insight.
That’s when Walden by Henry David Thoreau caught my eye.
Since the original book is quite long, I decided to start with a more approachable version.
I picked up a manga adaptation called Reading Thoreau’s “Walden” in Manga.
The manga version featured gentle, relaxed illustrations that matched Thoreau’s simple way of life perfectly.
It only covered selected excerpts from the original text, so I finished reading it in no time.
After reading the manga, I felt inspired to explore the full work more deeply.
I then purchased the two-volume edition of Walden from Shogakukan Bunko, translated by Yoshiharu Imaizumi, which seemed approachable and easy to read.
It was first published in 1854 and even after more than 170 years, so many of his words still spoke to me.
Overview of Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau, an American writer and philosopher, graduated from Harvard University and briefly became a schoolteacher.
However, he strongly opposed corporal punishment, which was common at the time, and left the job in less than a month.
He never held a permanent position and lived a rather unconventional life.
During this time, he built a small cabin near Walden Pond in Massachusetts and began living a self-sufficient lifestyle. In today’s terms, it could be seen as an early form of minimalist living.
By the way, the site where Thoreau’s cabin once stood is now preserved as a historical landmark. Thoreau Cabin Site on Google Map👇
Although Thoreau lived a self-sufficient life, he was not completely isolated from society.
He was not a recluse by nature, and Walden includes accounts of his interactions with visitors to his cabin, as well as observations of people living in nearby towns.
His writing reflects a thoughtful balance between society and nature, rather than a complete separation from the world.
Thinking the Relationship Between Life and Nature in New Zealand
As I continued reading Walden, I felt a deep sense of familiarity with Thoreau’s idea of “living with nature at just the right distance.” It reminded me of my own life now.
I was born and raised in Japan and spent my early twenties in the bustling city of Tokyo and Yokohama. But about five years ago, I moved to New Zealand. Since then, I have been living in a country that is roughly the same size as Japan, yet has a far smaller population.
Compared to life in Tokyo, living in New Zealand often feels a bit isolated and less convenient. Still, this quieter, more spacious lifestyle has given me a new perspective on how we interact with nature.
Although I say “isolated,” I don’t live in a remote area like Thoreau did, nor do I live a fully self-sufficient lifestyle. Still, life here would be quite inconvenient without a car.
There are no convenience stores, and no Amazon. Most cafés open as early as 7 a.m., but many of them close by around 2 p.m.
Unlike Tokyo, where you can easily find a family restaurant or café open almost any time of day and slip in alone for a quick bite, life here is much quieter and more peaceful.
There are certainly moments when I feel inconvenienced.
But as the saying goes, you grow to love the place you live.
Over time, I’ve come to appreciate this slow and calm lifestyle in New Zealand.
In fact, I now find densely populated places like Tokyo to be a little overwhelming and stressful.
What I’ve Learned from a Simple Life in New Zealand
One of the things I love most about living in New Zealand is the sky.
At night, I’m always captivated by the stars above. Back when I lived in Japan, the sky felt much smaller, squeezed between tall buildings, and it was rare to see more than a few stars.
In most parts of New Zealand, apart from city centers like Auckland or Wellington, there are hardly any tall buildings. On a clear day, the sky stretches endlessly in a brilliant shade of blue, and it feels incredibly open and refreshing.
The golden hour at dusk is especially beautiful. Soft pink and pale purple hues blend across the horizon, creating a dreamlike atmosphere.
What Does It Mean to Be Truly Rich as a Freelance?
In Walden, Thoreau wrote the following line:
Give me the poverty that enjoys true wealth. - Henry David Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods
This quote appears in a passage where Thoreau harshly criticizes a man named Flint, who gave his own name to a lake called Flint's Pond.
Flint, according to Thoreau, was a man obsessed with profit, money and reputation.
He cared little for nature and had likely never even set foot in the lake, let alone appreciated its beauty. Thoreau found it absurd that someone like Flint would name a lake after himself.
Thoreau continues, saying :
if he could get anything for him; who goes to market for his god as it is; on whose farm nothing grows free, whose fields bear no crops, whose meadows no flowers, whose trees no fruits, but dollars; who loves not the beauty of his fruits, whose fruits are not ripe for him till they are turned to dollars. Give me the poverty that enjoys true wealth.
That is why he says, “Give me the poverty that enjoys true wealth.”
To him, true wealth is not measured by material success but by the richness of a simple life in harmony with nature.
Reading this, I found myself smiling at how blunt Thoreau could be.
But at the same time, I began to wonder.
Have I, in some way, also been chasing success the way Flint did?
Has my thinking been shaped more by numbers and recognition than by what truly matters to me?
A Shift in How I Value Earning as a Freelance Designer
In my second or third year as a freelance career, I began earning a stable income that exceeded what I had made in my previous full-time job.
Work was fun and fulfilling and I had a strong sense of motivation. I kept telling myself, “I should work as much as I can while I can.”
At that time, I rarely turned down projects. I was in a phase where I pushed myself to take on almost everything that came my way, working with intense focus and energy.
While building my freelance career, I was not only proud of being chosen for projects but also obsessed with the numbers — how much I earned each month became a major source of excitement and worry.
Of course, many of the projects were genuinely fun and fulfilling, and I had the chance to meet many wonderful people along the way.
However, over time, my perspective began to shift. These days, I find myself placing more importance on whether the work itself feels meaningful to me, rather than focusing solely on how much it pays.
I still try to take on as many inquiries as I can, but time is limited.
To be honest, if I cannot choose my own projects, then it’s no different from being employed by a company.
As a freelancer, it is up to me to decide what kind of work I take on and how I manage my schedule and energy.
Without a clear sense of priorities, I realized I could easily run out of time for skill development or end up stuck in a creative rut.
That, in turn, can lead to burnout.
Finding the right balance between “rice work” — the jobs you do to earn a living — and “life work” — the work you take on to grow and evolve — may be the key to staying both mentally and physically healthy as a freelancer.
Returning to What I Love: A New Starting Point That Opens the Way
As I continued reading Walden, one particular line stood out to me:
“The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden
When I read this, I thought of my own comfort zone.
Everything is new at first, but through repetition, we grow used to things.
Like an unpaved path that becomes easier to walk on after being trodden again and again, we create our own comfort zones through habit and familiarity.
And once we’ve grown used to those zones, it’s only natural to want to stay within them. The idea of stepping outside feels daunting, even unnecessary.
But there’s another way to look at this.
Some paths exist because others walked them before us.
These roads can serve as guidance, helping us learn from the past.
They remind us of things we must not repeat — like war, for instance.
And they invite us to reflect on how we can avoid falling into those same ruts.
Carving Your Own Path Is What Makes You Unique
From a designer’s perspective, I believe that periods of burnout or creative slumps are often moments to pause and reflect on the path we've taken.
Sometimes, growth comes not from following a paved road, but from choosing to walk where no path yet exists. Only by doing so do we create one.
If we simply trace the footsteps of others and walk the tracks they laid down, we lose what it means to be a true creator. Creation is not imitation.
There may be times when our paths briefly overlap with others, and that’s okay.
But in most cases, designers and creatives are the ones constantly forging their own way forward.
That is where individuality shines through. It is how your unique worldview begins to take form.
Of course, there are moments when we get tired of walking. When we stop, unsure if we can go any further.
That may be what we call a slump, or even burnout.
We are not machines. We are human. It is only natural that we become exhausted after walking for so long. We need rest.
Many of us have been running on sheer momentum.
But in those moments, we must not forget to look back and ask ourselves:
What kind of path have I walked so far?
That reflection might just be the start of a new direction, one that only you can take.
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." — Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854
The Roots of Creativity : What’s Inside Shapes What You Create
To close, I’d like to share the words that resonated with me most deeply from the Conclusion of Walden by Henry David Thoreau — a poetic line followed by Thoreau’s own reflection.
"Direct your eye sight inward, and you’ll find a thousand regions in your mind yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be Expert in home-cosmography." — William Habington, “To My Honored Friend Sir Ed. P. Knight,”
"Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought." — Henry David Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods
Within each of us lies a path shaped by the experiences we’ve had.
When we take the time to reflect on our past and reconnect with ourselves, we often uncover aspects we never knew existed — new, uncharted regions of the heart and mind.
Exploring this inner world may be what leads us back to the true source of creativity. For designers, creators and artists, it is this journey inward that fuels imagination and brings forth meaningful work.
Be your own Columbus of the inner world. Not for the sake of commerce, but for thought.
That is the invitation Thoreau leaves us with — to venture inward and discover the landscapes waiting quietly within.
This brings me to the end of my reflections on Walden by Henry David Thoreau, and what it helped me realize about the true source of creativity as a designer.
Lately, I’ve been feeling the weight of burnout and fatigue from social media, but reading this book gave me the space to slow down and look inward again.
It reminded me of the importance of pausing and reconnecting with myself.
The next time I feel the need to step back or find myself losing direction, I hope to return to this book — and to this very piece of writing — as a way to remember who I am and what truly matters to me.
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