Transcendentalist

I read From Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I agree with what this author feels. Throughout the essay he discusses nature, and how when he's in the wild he is apart of God. He strongly believes that God is apart of him, and when he is out looking at nature he is taken away from his own body and God over comes him. I agree with him in the sense of nature taking you to another place. I feel calm and peaceful, like nothing could harm you in such a beautiful place. That no matter what the scene is your feelings find a way to relate to nature. In the poem he speaks the touching words, "For nature is not always tricked in holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs, is overspread with melancholy today." I believe what he feels is true. What he is trying to get across here is that if you seek a beautiful place like the mountains, one day it could be filled with beauty, because your soul is happy inside. The next day something petrifying could happen to you, and that same spot that was yesterday stunning, could turn gloomy and heartbreaking.




The essay From Nature relates to transcendentalist. Transcendentalist believe that everyone has a "oversoul". That some where in everyone is a piece of god, and that everyone connects to each other some how. In From Nature, the author expresses this through nature. "I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God." This quote is from the poem, and is explaining the connection between him and God. He believes that the nature pulls God out of his soul and he becomes part of his holiness.



The essay From Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson is what I understand to be about being independent. He feels that if you imitate people or follow the crowd you are killing the soul that was given to you. In the poem he quotes, " There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till." To me this means that everyone has their own personality and if your not being yourself your not using what God has provided you with. That if you have this great idea that everyone thinks is crazy, one day your idea will be what everyone believes in.



This essay relates to Transcendentalist because in the essay he talks about listening to yourself and being individual. Transcendentalist believe that of the same nature. They believe that there is apart of everyone with in you, and God speaks to you somehow. So, if you listen to your instinct which they believe to be God, you wouldn't be following the crowd. If your not following the crowd, then therefore you are considered to be a individual.

In the essay, Resistance to Civil Government by Henry Thoreau, the impression it has on me is that he doesn't like the structure of the government."Why can't there be a government where right and wrong are not decided by the majority but by conscience?" To me he is saying that the government is based on majority instead of the few with their own unique ideas. I think this is true in a way. I know the government has to try and satisfy every one's needs, which would be the reason for following what the majority says. If you always listen to the majority though, they could all just agree with each other because they really have no ideas themselves. There are a tremendous amount of people out there with magnificent ideas, but they have no one who will listen.

In this essay this man believes that you should go with your conscience instead of what "law" says. This is what transcendentalist believe. They believe you should listen to your intuition, that little voice inside of you instead of following the crowd. The way he portrays this image is from the statements he makes throughout the essay; "Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward."

After reading Chris's scenario, I understand how he feels. My family has always been hard on me to make the best grades, go to college, stay out of trouble, and degree in a profession that will provide me with a good amount of money. Sometimes that's not the case though, sometimes I don't want to proceed with what I've always told my family. I want to travel and explore so I can settle down with a job that I really love and dedicate myself to. In Chris's situation I would do what I felt was best for myself. If I didn't think I was going to be happy with something everyone else wanted me to do, Id do what I feel is right for me. If the people your scared of hurting really love you as much as you think, changing your profession shouldn't change that. Your wife or husband should be there for you 150%, so if something that makes you happy and is good for the both of you makes your marriage have tighter budget, so be it. In the long run it's your life and it's what you want to proceed, and anyone that doesn't back you up on that doesn't care for your happiness. I think a Transcendentalist would do what their heart was telling them. No matter how many people they knew were telling them they were making a mistake, I feel they would follow that voice everyone has."Why can't there be a government where right and wrong are not decided by the majority but by conscience?" That's the way transcendentalist feel, they feel that we should decide on what's right and wrong by the feeling we have inside, not the rules of the law.

Alone in the wilderness relates to Transcendentalist tremendously. The video clip is about a old man who decides to "become one" with nature, and build his own cabin so he can survive out in the wilderness. His plan is to stay out in the wild observing nature for thirty-five years. He is like a transcendentalist in the way of resulting to nature for peace. Transcendentalist believe that nature calms you, and brings the God in you out of your soul. "I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God." This is a quote on the way transcendentalist feel, and they way the old man in the video portrays to be.