Transcendentalism

"We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds..." - Emerson

Although I didn't like reading Emerson's piece, I did love some very distinct phrases. I found him very long winded trying to repeat himself over and over.But in his piece, he had phrases, sentences, even some paragraphs that made you step back and realize how powerful his statement really is. Our society has come to live up to eachother and not their own standards. I love that statement Emerson said about doing things for ourselves and finding our own individuality. Our lives are too short to live for someone else.

The more powerful of the pieces, Thoreau's, brought me to thinking how cluttered my life is. Simplify, simplify, simplify. When in reality our thought process is "More, more, more." We feel like if we don't have something now, it might be gone later or someone else may take it. Life has become a contest with who's better than the rest. People want to beat eachother and be the best at everything. I know it's contradicting for many of us to say this, but what do grades really matter for? What would happen if we died tomorrow. Sure, we might have had hopes for the future, but that future isn't there anymore. No one realizes how short life is until it's gone. I love sayings like, "Live in the moment" or "Live like you were dying" because that's how we should live our lives. No one is going to live forever and we keep worrying about the future, we won't be enjoying the present. Someone told me to look up the meaning of present. It means gift. We should enjoy the gift we have and not worry about what may have happened yesterday, the mistakes you made today, or the things you want to do tomorrow. Figure out what you want now. Figure out what you need now. Figure out what you belive in. Because who knows what may happen tomorrow.