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Final Post 2: Emerson vs. Thoreau in Self Reliance and Nature

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance, and Henry David Thoreau’s Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, human nature and transcendentalism is tied together to show the true immersion of oneself in Nature, and how one should value the body and Nature as one. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance, he bring the sense that human nature and experience transcends maternal existence within itself. Emerson writes, “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men- that is genius.” (Emerson 236). In this, one can believe that he is saying to be self reliant on one’s own thoughts, and teach an example to others by doing so. Emerson also argues that valuing imagination, diversity, the mind, and Nature bring order to ones life. Emerson explains this by saying, “I suppose no man can violate his nature.” (Emerson 241). With this, Emerson brings in Nature and having character with Nature can teach one able our own wills. Thoreau also embodies this self reliance with nature in his work Where I Lived, and What I Lived For. Thoreau explains that through living in Nature, one can own the world without owning anything. He creates a notion of confrontation to observation and resistance for an individual truth. Thoreau writes, “Renew thyself completely each day; do it again, and again, and forever again” (Thoreau 1016). By restarting new each day with self reliance, one becomes a part of Nature as it as well starts over new each day. Thoreau also explains that, “If we do not get out our sleepers, and forge rails, and devote days and nights to the work, but go to tinkering upon our lives to improve them, who will build railroads?” (Thoreau 1018). This ties in to the transcendentalism assumption that manual labor is primal and important, and connects us to our truth in nature, because then you are valued as a part of a working body. There is also an instance in Thoreau’s work where he releases that he bathes in the Walden Pond early in the mornings. He writes, “I got up early and bathed in the pond; that was a religious exercise, and one of the best things which I did.” (Thoreau 1016). Having that full submersion into nature was a release for Thoreau, and connected him even further with Nature and his self reliant self. This experience is like a religious cleansing for Thoreaus, and doing so in the morning bring him close to Nature as well. For, in the morning the sun rises with Thoreau as he rises from his place of sleep, and the world begins with him. The connections to Nature that Emerson and Thoreau wrote about in their literary pieces, as well as lived day by day, gives the reader a sense of transcendentalism at it’s finest. Having Nature being a part of ones soul, and this connection causing one to look outward, as well as inward, and become more self reliant in their lives.

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Final Post One: Fuller’s Law Suit

Margaret Fuller brings us female virtue in her texts. Fuller’s The Great Lawsuit focuses in on the separate spheres that men and women live in, and this trope of the “fallen woman” to life in her work as a woman herself, who has struggled in society. In Fuller’s The Great Lawsuit, she capitalizes on this term as separate spheres. This is seen as the ideology that men belong in the “public” sphere of politics and commerce, while women belong in the “private” sphere of the home as selfless gatekeepers of the good. Fuller writes, “It is worth of remark, that, as the principle of liberty is better understood and more nobly interpreted, a broader protest is made on behalf of a woman. As men become aware that all men have not had their fair chance, they are inclined to say that no women have had a fair chance.” (Fuller 729). Representing fallen women, Fuller reiterates through her text that women in society have never been given a chance at all, to do anything, because men are seen as the “public” sphere characters. Women must sit back and do the house work, and become slaves in their own home. Fuller continues on this idea of women being enslaved by stating, “It is not surprising that it should ne the Anit-Slavery party that pleads for women, when we consider it merely that she does not hold property on equal terms with men; so that, if a husband dies without a will, the wife, instead of stepping at once into his place as head of the family, inherits only part of his fortune, as if she were a child, or ward only, not an equal partner.” (Fuller 732). From this expert we also see the coverture of women and men and the law that legally stated that when a woman and man first get married, they will merge households, names, etc. and when only the husband dies, does the wife only acquire half of his belongs, if not less. But if the wife should pass first, the husband inherits all of the belongings of the family. This is a further example of women falling in societal measure that Fuller brings to our attention in her text. Fuller also shows this emphasis on how women’s sense of self is either empowered or ripped apart by men, and societies view of women in their “private” sphere. She uses fiery language such as “band of robbers” that creates a burning passion that Fuller has for feminism and women’s rights. To wrap up Fuller’s work, she exemplifies the thought and idea that women need a nature or a right to think and grow for themselves. They have no way of being self reliant, and men do not deserve to be the only ones with self reliance in society. Fuller lastly argues the sense of epistemology. Or, the theory of how knowledge gets generated, and how do we know what we really know. Women are taught to stay in their “private” spheres throughout time, because that is how society is supposed to run. But how does one know that is true? Who wrote down that women have to keep to themselves and have no freedom? Whoever it was, Fuller ripped them a new on with The Great Lawsuit.

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A Photo Tells a Thousand Tales

People’s bodies are more than just skin and flesh, they tell a story. Words and books do not have to be said or written describe a person. People often say that the brain holds all the emotions and thoughts of a person, but an argument arose that the body can tell you all the same things as words can. A person’s stance, a glance, or their clothing tell a thousand tales about a person,  whether they are being represented in a photograph, or if you are standing right in front of them. The people who get to see these different views of the body regularly are photographers. The promoted role of photographer was seen as a “national historian” in the time of ragging transcendentalism, and the title also held the definition of a creator of fine art (rather than a mere technician).

One significant figure that has been studied greatly in their photographs is the transcendentalist Walt Whitman. Whitman is well known for his striking pose on the front of his book, “Leaves of Grass”, but Whitman also write a poem on the body, called “I Sing the Body Electric”. In stanza two of the poem, Whitman explains, “The expression of the face balks account/But the expression of a well-made man appears not only in his face” (Whitman 2). A person’s face is one of the first things that one looks at when meeting or seeing a human being. Whitman argues that the stance of a person, or even the clothes and accessories the person is wearing, can give  you an insight on their personal characteristics.

Whitman continues by saying, “It is in his limbs and joints also, it is curiously in the joints of his hips and wrists, It is in his walk, the carriage of his neck, the flex of his waist and knees, dress does not hide him, The strong sweet quality he has strikes through the cotton and broadcloth…” (Whitman 2). He himself actually sat for over one hundred photos, posing in different position from standing, sitting casually, or even with children to that show power, knowledge, and wisdom. In these photos, you can see the different hand placements he has, along with other parts of his body he has maneuvered to tell a different story.

One can argue that in this era Whitman’s photography obsession, even women were pictured in a specific way to shed a light onto them in a positive way. Some women, including Margaret Fuller, were photographed with a book, or some other powerful statement object in their photographs. This established the idea that these women were knowledgeable, and brought light to gender equality to society through photography. Whitman brought the importance to photography to light by writing about it, but also by setting an example for so many others to come that, yes, a photography can give off vibes of certain characteristics of humans by the way the place their hands, hold themselves, or even the threads of their clothes.

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You’ve Got a Friend In Me

Friendship is a concept that every American, and human race around the world experience at least once in their lifetime. Making friends is a vital concept in society that brings groups of people who have some of the same views and admirations together. And once you find those people, you can share your ideas and thoughts with them, creating a space where new theories and ideas can come to life. In the transcendentalism community, personal friendships, attractions, and relations by birth or marriage were deeply important. At first thought, this ideal of close friendships where you are not self reliant may seem odd for a movement so devoted to individualism. When thinking of the works of transcendentalism, there are many writings and interactions that reveal interest in the idea that personal connections are vital to cultivating creativity, philosophy, and social activism. Ralph Waldo Emerson has been known to often write letters showing his passionate friendship to many of his friends. Below, is an expert from a letter he wrote to Thomas Carlyle:

“But besides my own hunger to see you & know you, and to hear you speak at ease & at large under my own roof, I have a growing desire to present you to three or four friends, & them to you. Almost all my life has been passed alone. Within three or four years I have been drawing nearer to a few men & women whose love gives me in these days more happiness than I can write of. How gladly I would bring your Jovial light upon this friendly constellation & make you too know my distant riches”

Emerson to Carlyle (cited in Addison/Oxford Handbook)

We see here that Emerson uses language such as “hunger” and “growing desire” to express his bromance with Carlyle, and show that even self reliant individuals need friends. Continuing with Emerson, He also wrote a piece called “Friendship”, that furthered these ideas on the journey of life with people you love standing beside you. In “Friendship”, he wrote, “Our intellectual and active powers increase with our affection. The scholar sits down to write, and all his years of meditation do not furnish him with one good thought or happy expression; but it is necessary to write a letter to a friend,— and, forthwith, troops of gentle thoughts invest themselves, on every hand, with chosen words” (Emerson, “Friendship”).

Emerson wanted to send a message to the people reading this piece, that sharing your experiences and what you have learned in your time of self reliance, helps further those around you find their own self reliance. He also stresses the importance of writing letters. Today, we send along meaningful text to our friends if it is their birthday, or if they are going through a tough time. Emerson argues that writing frequently to your friends and the ones you love gives them reason to invest in your life, and your everyday lifestyles, Letters and accounts reveal passionate expressions of attraction and affection, which brings people even closer so that you can create a long lasting bond with those people.

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Moby Dick Challenges Transcendentalism

Herman Melville writes many of the same themes and idea throughout the journey of his novel “Moby Dick” as the transcendentalists of his time, and before him did. The character Ahab, for instance, like the transcendentalists, believes that nature is an apparent demonstration of certain internal spiritual ideals and fundamentals. They main difference and issue between Ahab and the transcendentalists is what they think those fundamentals are. Melville’s examination of self-reliance and how the self-reliant one could afford to be was very relevant for himself. Ahab has many moments throughout the novel where he talks about his feelings toward Moby Dick.

Ahab's feelings are a twisted view on reality relating directly to transcendentalism because he believes that vengeance on the whale is worth risking not only his life, but the other men on boards lives as well. Captain Ahab, who visibly concluded with Emerson that “if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil” (Emerson/Self-Reliance), is one of Melville’s mechanisms for answering the questions of transcendentalism in “Moby Dick”. Melville is accusing Emersonian self-reliance, and all of Transcendentalism as essentially selfish, pointless, bleak, and most of the time physically harming to others and their mental stability. The point that is trying to be made is that the road leading up to freedom and a complete acceptance of individuality may be something worth searching after, because the destination one ends up reaching is normally not what the trailer wanted it to be, or sought it out to be in their minds. In other words, the dream is more than likely to result in a nightmare.

This moment of a dream becoming a nightmare comes to light in “Moby Dick” when Melville’s Ahab confesses to feeling “damned in the midst of Paradise,” as “gifted with the high perception,” he nows lacks “the low, enjoying power” (Chapter 36). Ahab creates this idea that we would all feel “damned” in the midst of such “Paradise” as his personal reading of Transcendentalism has created. Everything beyond the self has disappeared, and one has completely embraced what the world around them truly seems to be. In Melville’s opinion, if the main goal of Transcendentalist voyages were such a joyless enlightenment then they are probably not worth taking because of one’s dream travels unfolding and becoming a nightmare in reality.

Melville will continue to use this ideal throughout other chapters of the novel to attempt to find some other way to pursue Transcendentalism, one definitely not leading to such “paradise” as Ahab has created. Ahab's feelings are a messed up and unfortunate view on reality that relate to transcendentalism because following finding moby dick, he believes that getting revenge on the whale is worth risking his life and other mens lives. One of the main purposes of transcendentalism is letting your life journey impact others as well, in a positive way. Definitely not in a way that ends up in death at sea.

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The Raven as a Beacon of Light

Edgar Allen Poe was a writer, poet, literary critic, and probably one of the most well known gothic horror writer in the 19th century. Poe is said to be one of the many creators of the modern detective story with his work ”Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Seen as a God of poetry, Poe did not have much luck in his life outside of the pages. Poe had a troubled life, from his marriage to Virginia Clemm, his struggles with drugs and alcohol, and his early death that is still a mystery to many. What most people see is in Edgar Allen Poe’s poems are dark and dreary imagery, but it can be read as reframing the Transcendentalist retreat into nature as engagement with that dark, sinister query he displays. “The Raven” can be described as “transcendental” because it reaches for a transcendent sense of unity, or what we in class may call “the super-sensible,” ”the absolute,” “the oversoul,” or “the sublime.” But with Poe’s works, it’s a much different kind of transcendence than what we have read with Emerson’s “un-contained and immortal beauty” in which “man beholds somewhat beautiful as his own nature.”

Looking directly at “The Raven”, it is opened with,

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

   While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

           Only this and nothing more.”

   Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

   Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

   From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

           Nameless here for evermore.

Poe is channeling this dark main character that sets the reader up for a trip through his dark thoughts and past. The imagery of the dark words such as “bleak”, “weary”, Dying ember”, and “midnight dreary” help paint a picture of the loss the main character has had through his partner, Lenore. Poe’s poetry goes deeper than the rhyme or meter of the poem, and strikes a transcendentalist view on life, and longing known as the “gothic sublime”.

The repetition throughout the end of the poem of the word “nevermore”, also opens up a question of, “Is my sorrow forever wholesome?”. And “The Raven” argues that this is not so and that moving on with life after a tragedy is what every human should do. Poe poses the raven to be a beacon of light, even through the dark imagery of it’s character, to the main character and show him that Lenore is never coming back and death and loss is going to be a part of life. But in those hard times, you have to remember that moving past your troubles is something every human has to do, and that you cannot sit an wallow for the rest of your life.

Many people around the world lose loved ones, get broken up with, lose a job, etc., every day. And that “midnight dreary” creeps up and follows them around in their everyday life. Poe’s “The Raven” yes, is a dark sorrowful poem, but even today applies methods to a madness that humankind has to live through, and move past.

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The Clocks of Eternity

“Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman is one of the most known pieces of literature in our time. And I got to dive deep into a selection of poems from this book, and a section called “Song of Myself”. In these poems, was different experiences Whitman was inspired to share with the world. Many other writers and critics argued that “Leaves of Grass” and the “Song of Myself” were not poems, but prose. The Poet, for example, shows punctuation and all signs of poetic sense. So I disagree with their statements. But there is motion and imagery that conveys poetic structure and help give “Leaves of Grass” credit to be a novel of poems. I really wanted to dive into a section of “Song of Myself” called 44. There is a line that reads, “The clock indicates the moment- but what does eternity indicate?” That quote really makes you think about the transcendlistic vibe that Whitman is throwing at us. 

A clock counts the seconds, minutes, and hours every single day. You can watch the clock and your days go by, and live your life that way. But eternity is infinite. It has no timeline. Looking at eternity and where you will end up after you die, is a scary thing that most people choose not to do. Whitman brings up clocks and eternity to make a point. We do not know what eternity brings. We do not know what its ahead, besides what happens at the tick of the clock. We have to live our lives like it is our last hour, minute, or second on Earth. To spend your time wasting away by the side of the clock is no way to live. 

Living freely and with a purpose bigger than yourself is something that you can even connect back to Emerson. Self Reliance ties back in here as well. We are self reliant on the clock and the moments it brings. But, we cannot be self reliant on eternity, because of it being an infinite thing that we as humans can hardly define. The timing of the clock is counting our time towards eternity, and our moments that we spend in the now are precious. But the clock is also counting our actions in our moments. 

Eternity is reflecting on all of those past moments. The clock counting the moments is what depicts our infinite eternity. And that, to many, is a scary thought, But to some, it is a way to look at the world in such a positive way. To be self reliant and to not watch that clock, but to live each passing moment that clock counts as an experience to mark your time that you are given to be self reliant.

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Kant... What?

Philosophy is almost like a foreign language. To people who haven’t studied it for years, it doesn’t always come easy. Like myself. But for Kant, that was a different story. Kant and his idea’s on Transcendental Logic are something that came natural to him. Let me break it down for you. Kant says that the mind has power to analyze itself and it’s own workings, and that the mind contributes significantly to experience. He also stated that the mind structures experience. 

Such as, the super sensible substrate of reality and the thing itself. For example, if I were to hold a book up in front of my body, your senses would see the book and know it was there. But if I put it behind my back, Kant would argue that our mind now does not have evidence of it being there, even though we already saw the book. It is all about perception and our senses. If a man was standing at one end of the street, and you at the other, you have every reason to believe he is there because you can see him with your own eyes. But if you were to watch him hide behind a tree, technically he would not be there anymore. 

This sounds a little crazy, as a lot may think, but Kant argued that the mind and the super sensible substrate is what determines what is real, and what is not real. I myself, find this concept to be both hard to believe, but understandable. Technically, you wouldn’t be able to know something was there without seeing it, even if you had already seen it previous to it not being there. But also, you just saw that a thing was there, so you know that behind whatever it is behind, it is still existing in this world. Just because something is behind something, or not available to the eye, does not mean that it no  longer exists. Kant is going to keep a lot of us up at night…

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Summer Lakes

Margaret Fuller was an interesting character. She was really good friends with one of our last authors, Emerson, and had a great emphasis on social reform and women’s rights. She wrote a series of letters during her travels around the United States Great Lake Region. They were transfered into newspapers. She once travelled to see Niagara Falls, and expressed negative feelings while seeing it. We have all been on a trip that didn’t excite us like we thought it would, because people amped it up more than it was. This was good for Fuller, though, because she only had pictured the falls in a beautiful way, and it had given her nothing to write about, besides her disappointment. She later went back for the second time to Niagara Falls, but when no one else was there. She writes, “But the stage did not go, and after nightfall, there was a splendid moon.” 

From this, we see that she got to make her own opinion of Niagara Falls, in the dark, which made it look completely different than in the day time. And that created her writing point. Emerson, of course, inspired her feelings and thoughts towards this vision. She wrote that for one to really get the full experience of a place, you must see it and feel it for yourself. This, ties back into self reliance. You must have self reliance and have these thoughts and feeling for yourself. For example, you cannot rely on other peoples thoughts about a film that you have not seen, for you have not seen it yourself.

If you let someone ruin a movie for you before you can get your own opinion for it, you may never actually have your own opinion on that film. Fuller also applied this to life. Life is meant to be experienced by yourself, not through other’s eyes. If you walk through the world with your eyes closed and your ears open, then all you will have is other people’s reliance. Trusting your own eyes and ears, and other sense for that matter, is what Fuller and Emerson have been preaching to us for centuries now. In today’s world, social media can sometimes block our eyes and ears, and make us non-self reliant. And now, our society is full of people with other people’s opinions, instead of their own. Fuller and Emerson would want us to go out and see the world for ourselves.

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Non-Violent Protest

We see that in Thoreau’s novel, “Civil Disobedience, that it had very powerful movements, political and otherwise helped shape humans of that century. After this book was published, Thoreau was looked at as the “grandfather of intellectual inspiration”. He loved to argue that the legitimacy of the government and the relationship it had with the individuals at home. Thoreau was trying to et people up and saying things, and show people that non-violent protests can be very extreme spiritually and morally. His protest on principle really brought a spotlight on civil disobedience, and fighting the acts of the conscience and that the right to obey your own conscience is free.

Today in America, and all around the world, we see acts of non-violent protests every day. There are marches that people hold for women’s rights, gay rights, standing up against hatred, and protesting laws made by our governments. But a question you have to ask yourself with Thoreau, is what he means by “government”. You can look at this in many different ways. One way, is government of the mind. Free will, if you will. Having your emotions and mind governed by social media today is an apparent issue in todays society. For example, going on Twitter and seeing certain people say that men being emotional and crying is not manly. This is something I have witnessed myself, and people non-violently protest this, by showing and posting that their emotions should not be controlled by a social norm. Men will comment and explain that it is their right emotionally to do as they please, and that making assumptions that men cannot be emotional because it makes them less of a man, is emotional governing by society.

There is also, of course, the legislative government that holds constraints on humans. Thoreau states that “I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.” People believe this statement, and live by it when the government takes rights away from certain people. We can use the gay rights movement as an example. People in Brazil as I write this, are holding non-violent protests in the streets against the government making laws to ban homosexuality and same sex marriage in Brazil. The head official of Brazil is sending out homophobic laws, and the people of Brazil do not agree with that. There have been some people that are protesting violently, but hundreds of thousands of people are silently and non-violently protesting with signs and chants in the streets of Brazil. Thoreau’s thoughts on cicil disobedience are being shown and delivered this way. And we have seen this in America, even in Birmingham, Alabama as well. There are non-violent protests every weekend against legislators that we as American’s have the right to do. And If Thoreau was around today to see that, he would be nothing but proud. And honestly, he would be marching with all of the non-violent protestors, supporting his words.

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Uniting With Nature

When I begin to think of the word nature, I immediately see green. Green woods, green trees, and green light. Families camping in the woods, people running trails and becoming one with nature, and so forth. I would argue that Ralph Also Emerson saw nature a little differently. Emerson would have described nature as a guiding force and safe place for open thinking. A place where you go to find yourself, and release your mind to fly among the dragonflies and sway with the trees. To be one with nature, is what brings joy to your life. I simply base my knowledge of Emerson off of his book entitled, “Nature and Selected Essays”, where he himself dives deep into the relationship of man, man’s mind, and their connection to nature.

Emerson has a specific quote that stood out to me, and really made me think about my time spent in nature, and how we as humans live our lives. He stated, “The reason why the world lacks unity, and lis broken in heaps, is because man is disunited with himself. He cannot be a naturalist until he satisfies all the demands of the spirit.” Underlining this quote three times without hesitation, I related with this. I heard this louder than I have heard many things in novels. With the world we live in today, with the terrorist attacks, the school shootings, the me too movement, the government shutdowns, I though ‘How has the world become this place that I am living in?’ Then, I took a deep mental journey with myself and asked, if all man that make the world the horrible place it is today just took an hour to go outside and sit with nature and their own thoughts, would the world be different? If there was a time every day, that we were forced to go deep into the woods alone and just sit with our thoughts, inters of having a phone in our face, or nuclear weapons to threaten millions with, would their be a shift in our minds? And I never really came to a conclusion. I think that it’s silly to rely on nature to cure world sickness and solve our nations issues, but think about gun violence for a second. If these maniacs were not cooped up in their rooms with an AK-47’s, or being bullied into grabbing a gun instead of taking a de-stressing walk, Columbine could have possibly been prevented.

The whole argument sounds silly, like I stayed before, but the facts check out. A study from Stanford University finds that walking in nature include mental benefits and may reduce risk of depression. The studies are part of research exploring the connection between nature and human well-being (The Natural Capital Project). One in five Americans experience mental illness in a given year. Could a walk out in the green unknown have stopped some of this? I’m not saying people who are depressed go on shooting sprees, rape people, and fuck up our government, but if they would have been raised to take their issues out into nature instead of take them out on other people, would we be living in a different world today? Emerson sure would have loved that.

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Am I An American Scholar?

Running around at eight o’clock in the morning, trying to grab my books and feed my cat, whilst going over the material for my early class on the thoughts of Ralph Waldo Emerson and his essay, “The American Scholar”, made me question to myself.... “Can I go back and relate to his essay? Am I a part of the group of American Scholars? Do I have the same tendencies to view college and books the way he describes? Do I value the right use of literature as an English Major?” And then I almost passed out from the whirlwind of realizations I had.

The major concept of Emerson’s writing here, is that being a scholar, and creating literature as well as reading it, is essential to everyday man and woman. Creating pieces of work whether it be art, literature, or ideas is the proof of the divine presence. Every day, I try to push myself to create and log my creations in different ways, such as a journal or a songbook. But let’s get real, it’s hard sometimes.

A direct quote from Emerson’s “The American Scholar” states, “Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given; forgetful that Cicero, Locke and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books.” Comparing oneself to great authors and philosophers is not what Emerson is wanting mankind to do. He reiterates that we ourselves are among the Locke’s and Bacon’s of our generation, and limiting ourselves to only studying the greats, instead of studying ourselves, is pointless. We must not be held back by books and teachers and greater thoughts. We must prevail with our own mind, our own thoughts, and our own being.

Looking forward, and having an active soul and being, is what Emerson describes as “genius”. We must be active in our journey to becoming scholars, but with hesitation and cautiousness to not fall back on others influences. We must reach out and find what inspires us, yet create our own inspiration. Emerson also give us this, “I had better never see a book than to be warped but its attraction clean out of my own orbit, and made a satellite instead of a system,” that add to my previous statements above.

Wrapping your creative mind around another persons ideas, creates nothing but more ideas of that other person. You must be one with your own thoughts and nature. Seeking new beginnings and brainstorming through your own eyes. Students today in all levels of academic standing are given artists and legendary writers to read, study, and aspire to be. Having to read and study these people is one thing, but to aspire to be that person is not what Emerson would want us all to be doing. He would definitely appreciate the knowledge were are receiving, but he would want us to process that knowledge we were given, and make something new for ourselves. Create ideas from taking ourselves far away from those titles, and diving deep into our souls to find our own masterpiece.