Transcendentalism Is The Underlying Concept Of Transcendentalism

There are many challenges for people while they are growing up. In fact, these challenges are very common for most teenagers. However, many authors have written pieces with the intention to help students overcome their struggles. That is why a student who is struggling to find their inner self can trust several of the ideas of transcendentalism. In fact, Thoreau and Emerson include the ideas of optimism, intuition, and originality in many of their pieces of literature. It is clear that a teenager who is struggling developing their character should connect with the transcendent ideas from Thoreau and Emerson.

paint, I don't draw something realistic. When I am in front of my paper, I just

The essay by Henry David Thoreau, “Where I lived and What I Lived For” tells Thoreau beliefs of how society should live. He asks deep questions such as, “Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?” to encourage the reader to contemplate their lives and values. He said, “Our life is frittered away by detail.” and goes on to emphasize the value of, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” Thoreau states simplicity and self sufficiency are virtues society should live by; however, they potentially jeopardize the community and are consequently not viable today.

Instead, Thoreau built a simple but efficient cabin and furnished it with the basic necessity of a bed, table, chairs and desk. He also didn't waste his time and energy trying to keep up with the latest fashions; he wore comfortable and long lasting clothes. Thoreau explained to his readers that this simplistic way of life decreased the dreariness of every day life and left more time to explore one's meaning of life and his role in the world. Freeing oneself from the economic race, Thoreau argued, allowed for individual to be inspired by nature and focus on the genuine concerns of life.

To have simplicity in life, which is advocated by Transcendentalism, is getting more important in this complex and busy society because it helps people to focus on pursuing their own goals. Thoreau states, “In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe

American Transcendentalism was an important philosophical and literary movement which placed an emphasis on staying true to one’s beliefs and expressing oneself no matter the situation or consequence. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau fully embraced these beliefs as their influence has allowed these

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." Transcendentalist believed in being independent and self-reliant as well as appreciating nature. Transcendentalism occurred in the 1800s in the United States. Transcendentalist believed that one should not rely on others and should rely solely on themselves. They also believe that nature was important in the world and should not be taken for granted. Artist from 2000 up to now share these common beliefs with transcendentalist. One of these artist is Trisha Yearwood who had the song Real Live Woman. Another artist who has a song that follows their beliefs is Lee Ann Womack. Lee Ann Womack has the song I Hope You Dance which also follows along with the beliefs of transcendentalist. Some of the beliefs that transcendentalist had was believing in independence and they also believed in appreciating nature and everything in it for example Lee Ann Womack sings about nature and what happens in it and Trisha Yearwood in one of her songs sings about the importance of being self-reliant and independent she also talks about social reforms and not doing things that is set up by society.

Thoreau uses straightforward language to express his point. He states directly, ?Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!? (16). He believes that we should have no more than one or two affairs at a time. Thoreau jokingly writes about man?s need to build a railroad to make our lives simpler. He asks, ?And if railroads are not built, how shall we get to heaven? But if we stay at home and mind our business, who will want railroads?? (16). Many believe that by building railroads we will simplify traveling, but in truth the work it takes to upkeep the railroads has only further complicated our lives. I love Thoreau?s assertion that if everyone agrees to slow down, our lives would be much simpler. This is true today too, in that a when four-lane highway becomes congested, it is turned into a six or eight lane highway. This, however, rarely eases the congestion. In this way, Thoreau?s assertion remains true.

Mansions and cars can never make a person truly happy, even if he believes it himself.

Do you think that you can survive in the wilderness for two years like Henry David Thoreau did? Transcendentalism was a movement in New England and Ralph Waldo Emerson is the father of this. Transcendentalism means to reconnect with nature and to reconnect with a better self. It also creates a connection to nature and self-reliance; these are the most important ideas of transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is something that you can do at your own pace. You do not have to go faster than you need to or slower than you need. It’s like self paced learning. These themes are still relevant in today's society because people go hunting, some people go out into the woods to see how long they can survive by themselves to reconnect with nature, and

Transcendentalism was a huge cultural movement in the nineteenth century; however, the ideas of the movement still continue to influence our society in the twenty-first century. These ideas of Transcendentalism have continued to exist throughout many years because the ideas remain relevant to society. In fact, the problems that many Transcendentalist writers encountered still happen today in new forms. These similar problems include conformity, the role of government in society, and the importance of nature. In general, people still feel that society needs to better itself for the benefit of all individuals, which is at the heart of Transcendentalism. Some of the ideas that Transcendentalists constantly defended included individualism,

One of the most famous texts ever written for the sheer purpose of Transcendentalism was Emerson’s Self Reliance. In his essay, he writes about the importance of nonconformity and individualism. In Self Reliance, Emerson tells us to “trust thyself.” From only two words, one can gather the whole purpose of his essay. With nonconformity, man can defend himself against the tendency to become satisfied with life, and lose his own individuality. With “good- humored inflexibility” the self-reliant person can become someone who obeys himself. When it comes to a battle of law or a battle of morals, the self-reliant man will follow his morals and discard the law. One is not to use their logic, but use intuition. Emerson simply was striving for not the superiority of one man, but for originality and individuality of all humankind. He wanted to

Have you ever heard the saying that ‘less is more?’ This saying can be applied to nearly every scenario on a daily basis- the less dishes you have, the less you have to wash. The less cluttered your house is, the more likely you’ll have extra space and a less cramped environment. This saying relates perfectly with Thoreau’s aphorism. He uses repetition by exclaiming “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!”

     Many people have theories and philosophies about life in general. There have been hundreds of thousands of books published by many different people on the ideas of people in the past and the present. Transcendentalism falls in amongst all of these ideas. There have been articles, essays, poems, and even books written about this subject. Transcendentalism has effected many people since the philosophy was first introduced. The idea was complex and hard to grasp for many commoners and therefore it was understood by few people, and some would think that the idea was not understood at all and that was part of the idea. Henry David Thoreau once stated about himself, “I should have told them at

Henry David Thoreau lives by an ideology of minimalism and simplicity, conveniences of his era are gratuitous for a life of prosperity. He entered the woods to explore life living deliberately and to tread a road of existential self-actualization. Thoreau is a transcendentalist so it is only expected that he does not align with centralized authority through religion and government which leads to the the overall theme of naturalism and self reliancy. Essentially the theme thoreau advocates is that a simplistic lifestyle allows one to live freely and wholly without the binds of tyranny and modern “conveniences.”