Nature

I love spending time in nature. It has these magical powers over me that I can't really explain. Whenever I feel like I need to get away or to calm myself down, I just go outside to a quiet place where I can just relax and listen. Lucky for me, the path to " my place" is a not too distant walk down the pleasant canyon behind my house to the small little creek that presents itself so beautifully to all passers-by, which happily, at least for my sake, remain few at this point. The greeness of the place envelops me, an oasis of color that has sprung up out of the usual brown scrub of the mild, sub-desert climate. It invites me to spend time next to the babbling creek, listen to the birds chirp, and smell the sweet air of nature. For a little while, I can relax my mind and just take in what I was meant to be a part of on this Earth, as a creature living among the rest in harmony.


This is why I think nature holds such a power of me and others. We get so caught up in our daily lives and our humanly tasks that we sometimes forget that we too are a part of nature in all of its beauty. Returning to nature compels all of us, because, naturally, we are a part of it, and as a result, we are drawn to it.


Nature, to be enjoyed, must be looked at in the smiplest way possible, because, as humans, we cannot simply begin to understand its true meaning. Emerson states: "The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood." We cannot continue to ask why, and ponder why nature exists, but instead, revel and frolic in it like a child. A child sees nature simply as what it is and does not question what or why. A child soaks it all in, appreciates it in the simplest way, and then proceeds to enjoy it. This, I believe, in accordance with Emerson, is how nature should be enjoyed. Nature is not there for us to conquer it or ignore it, nor will we ever learn all of its secrets or its mysteries. Instead, we should take a moment to step back and take it for what it is: the great mystery and wonder that is the world itself, and how we should be so lucky to be a part of it. Whether it be the smallest seashell on the beach, or the tallest tree in the forest, we should take the time to really appreciate nature so we should not forget to stay connected with the world we live in, because if we did, we would lose the reason for our existence as a species: to be the appreciators of the beautiful world around us.

Friendship

"I am arrived at last in the presence of a man so real and equal that I may drop even those undermost garments of dissimulation, courtesy, and second thought, which men never put off, and may deal with him with the simplicity and wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another."

This quote is striking because in sums of up in just a few words what a true friendship should model itself after: upfront honesty, truth, and complete understanding between friends. I agree with Emerson's idea that friends should treat each other with the utmost respect and honesty with each other, I try to live each and everyone of my days as an Emersonian friend.

That being said, it is extremely difficult to live as an Emersonian type friend because of the differences in each relationship and friendship and how they develop. Every different friendship is different because of the circumstances in which each friendship develops and how society and the enviroment in which the friendship is nutured reacts to it. Every friendship is different, and because of this, there are many different levels of friendship.

As a result, I don't think we as humans are naturally inclined to share our innermost thoughts with a new friend. We must reach a certain level with someone before we can drop all our insecurities and thoughts around them. Because of this, there is a certain limit to our friendships, and we can only attain the highest level of friendship after we reach a certain level of comfort. That is why Emerson's ideal friendship is in fact so ideal. It is ideal because it brings us faith and comfort that when we do in fact reach that level of friendship with a person, we can come out from behind the wall we are hiding behind and show our true selves. We can drop "our undermost garments" and share with someone the truest version of ourselves. That is why the Emersonian ideal is so great. We can share with someone else our greatest burdens and be able to lift the monkeys off our backs without facing any repercussions from society or from judgement. We can live life in its truest, most simple form when in the company of true friendship. This is what drives us to form the friendships that we so desperately seek on a day to day basis. The ultimate feeling of openness and honesty and simplicity.

That being said, it is difficult to always be open and honest with one's friends all the time because of the different situations we face with our friends. For this reason, Emerson's idealistic friendship is tested everyday in the little white lies we tell our friends or the things we tell our parents to get them off our backs. For this reason, in many ways, it is unrealistic to assume that we can ever form a friendship exactly alike to the Emersonian model. But that's not the point. We just need to come close enough.

Self-Reliance

Here are my four picks of Emerson quotes from "Self-Reliance" and my interpretations of the quotes.

"Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense..."
Speak your mind, and people will listen to you

"Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of everyone of its members."
Society is resistant to change, and people will do anything to stop the new ideas of each of its members.

"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."
In the end, nothing matters except for your own integrity and thoughts.


"What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what people think."
You must always think and act for yourself and not let the actions and opinions of others influence you against your own will.



The quote of the four that I chose was "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind" because this quote can be applied to every factor and element of life. If we are what we believe in, then we can live with ourselves and reach for something greater than ourselves because we are following our own guidelines for living and doing what we believe ir right. If we do not follow what we believe in and exist how we want to exist, the point of life itself is lost. This quote symbolizes what can happen to us if we lose track of who we are and our awareness of society around us.
An example of what could in theory happen to us is displayed in the novel, 1984, by George Orwell. In this novel, society loses track of individualism and thinking for itself, and as a result, falls under the control of a dominating government that keeps it isolated from the rest of the world. The biggest crime of all that one can commit in this society is thoughtcrime, which is when someone thinks for themself. The protagonist of the story is eventually tortured an then killed because he commits thoughtcrime dares to think differently than the rest of his brainwashed society. This story is such a good example of how we must, until the very end, not allow others to control our thoughts, or we will lose sight of everything that is important to us and everything that makes us who we are.

It just goes to show how important our own thoughts are, and that no one can take them away from us unless we let them. If all else fails, we will always have our own thoughts, our own ideas. Out of this comes hope, and if we lost track of thinking for ourselves, all would be lost. And if we can't think for ourselves and believe in our thoughts, how can we expect anyone else to do the same?

Emerson- Gifts

According to Emerson, how should gifts be given? Received?

The first rule that comes with giving gifts is that, outside of necessity, they must come from the heart. The best gift that can be given is one that is entirely personal and represents something between the giver and the receiver. It is a connection between the two people that cane be symbolized in whatever it is that is given. For this reason, a lot of the time, a gift is not something that is materialistic or can be physically given. A gift is given with the best intentions and with emotion. It is not something that is merely given for the sake of giving something.

Receiving a gift can be even trickier than giving one. The key is to receive a gift as graciously as possible, but without flattering your benefactor. That is really the only way to receive a gift.

What social commentary does Emerson offer here?

Emerson states that a lot of gifts and the way society perceives how we should react to them are wrong. He brings out the importance in more than just the materialistic value of gifts and declares that they should have an emotional value to them too. He continues on by saying that despite all the "gratitude" people show towards one another when receiving gifts, the gift givers are still in some danger of being "bitten by the mouth that they fed." It is simply human nature. It appears as if Emerson is trying to state that we are a "what have you done for me lately" society.

What is he critiquing?

Emerson is critiquing the way in which society treats gifts and how we respond when things are given to us or we give something to others. We expect nothing at first, but when we receive something something, we expect everything. He critiques throughout the entire piece as to why we are such an extreme society. "Our tokens of compliment and love are for the most part barbarous." "We ask the whole. Nothing less will content us." "We do not quite forvie a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten." Emerson goes on and on about how people do not do enough when gifts are involved. It is clearly apparent that he doesn't think gifts are given or received well, and this is his manual on doing it correctly.