Transcedentalist Era

Nature

By: Ralph Waldo Emerson

"In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods too, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There i feel that nothing can befall me in life, --- no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, --- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.

Reflection:

The essay "Nature" helps me to remember back to the times when I was younger and going out into the fields and the sand of the beaches playing around with family. Nature has helped me to better appreciate the wonderful vibration of the world. As for me, I am to say that I am getting to be one with the nature. When I look back at the last time that we had snow I can see how excited I was but now i don't see that excitement. I will always be a little girl inside but i will not always have a "transparent eyeball."

Diary Entry:

When i was a little girl traveling to America for the very first time in my life, i met one thing that stayed in my life forever. That one item was something that we call nature. Nature is a place to go and relax but i also appreciate it. Nothing meant more to me then baby dolls when i was younger but now nature is all that i see in my life. Since i have been in America I have lost touch with my inner child of nature, so i have to regain it. I have learned that nature is not something we ignore but something that we should cherish.

Self Reliance

By: Ralph Waldo Emerson

"He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which when quite young I was prompted to make to a valued adviser, who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions; if I live wholly from within? my friend suggested, --- "But these impulses may be from below, not from above." I replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if i am the Devil's child, I will live then from the Devil."No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.

Reflection:

Emerson's essay "Self Reliance" helped me to realize that when we are young we will always have questions. This helped me to look into my past and reminisce on some questions that i had about God and my church. As Emerson says, "But if i am the Devil's child, I will live from the Devil." makes me think how i am God's child and i will always live from God. This helps me to think about how we each need our own personal identities that no one can take from us. As we move forward each and every day we never pause and look at what is happening in our lives. Each and every person should stop at one point in the week and reminisce on the past.

Diary Entry:

I was coming home from my summer i spent in Germany, with my brother Rico and i realized one thing...i loved God. I never take the time out of my day to let him know it though. As the days go on i get farther and farther away from him when i should be getting closer and closer. I miss the good ol' days when i was younger but now that i am grown and about to turn sixteen i realize that i have a bunch of questions to ask. I don't know how they occurred in my heart but they have to be asked whether God answers them or not. I am a child of God and not of the devil so no matter what happens it will always be this way.