EMERSON SAID IT

OKAY. So today in class during our discussion I ended up having the same perspective and I still agree 100% with Emerson's idea and he has made me think of how I have been living my life and I realize that it is totally the incorrect way. In our class discussion there was a different perspective of how Emerson's ideas were viewed. Some people believed that Emerson is full of crap and that all he is doing is telling us to believe in ourselves in a cliche way and that at the end of the day we forget about what Emerson has to say to begin with. I totally disagree because when we say that society is always going to end up winning it is exactly what Emerson is telling us not to do and believe! He is telling us to stop believing that we can't do anything because we are the society! It only takes one person to make a difference. It all depends on a single person to make a difference, not just because everyone is doing it you should too. You need to step up and not be a prisoner of a fake personality and person because of "society." The first thing that needs to happen to achieve this is that you need to change and be yourself first and then you will be able to change the society, because if you are not at peace with yourself to begin with then you can't really make a difference in our society, that is why our society is how it is today. We can see this in all the quotes and messages that Emerson is trying to tell us. To begin with he starts off by saying, “ Ne te quaesiveris extra.” He is telling us that who we really are is inside of us. We have to be seeking our inner selves rather than our outer selves. Yes we hear this all the time but he isn’t just telling us to believe in ourselves, he is telling us to not conform to the person that everyone sees in a daily basis, or the person that acts like they are happy when in reality they aren’t. He is telling us to conform to the person inside of us, the real, pure, and true of us. He gives examples of our reality and he makes us realize why our society is how it is today. For example when he says,” We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents,” or when he says,” In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.” These are examples of humanity’s reality. We are too afraid to speak what we know because we are in fear that we are wrong. We realize that we are right and we think of the fact that we never spoke up for the rest of the day. After giving us these examples he goes on to support us and and he tell us that it is not the end and that we have to make a difference to be happy with ourselves and who we are to begin with. He says,” Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” and, “ Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” YOU know yourself better than anyone else and you know that you can only obtain happiness by being yourself and not someone who acts just to fit in. YOU will know that you are doing the right thing when you finally reach peace. He tells us to be INDEPENDENT. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to change on your own. You do not need someone to hold your hand through it all. We are individuals who are capable of changing, you can either see the positive side of it and be inspired to make a change in yourself, or not. Focus on what you want to do and not on what others want you to do. That is what I caught from our discussion and my opinion. (: