Self-Reliance

A classic read, albeit as “essays,” that was today’s RA Favorite, Self-Reliance by the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, the father of nature and belief in self.  What should one ground themselves in?  Being true to oneself!  Though our society constantly is challenging us to be “this or that,” Emerson, a man before his time, challenges that thinking.  He advocates that we have our best interests found in ourselves (the genius lies within), the external world will always be against us – so why bother listening to those who bring foolish ideals to us, and finally, trust yourself!  The genius within is noted, “a man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within….” And “trust thyself every heart vibrates to that iron strong.”   Who trusted themselves?  Moses, Plato and Milton to name a few, yes he does attempt to back up his thinking with real examples.  A person should “follow their own path,” we can become dispirited and small.  “No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.”  And moving to the outside influence, he notes “what I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.”    Don’t blindly obey society, because it is trying to influence you outwardly.  He doesn’t advocate for travel or other perspectives outside your own, it will reduce your own beliefs in self.  We compromise our own values when we listen to outside forces.  Trust your own intuition, and live for yourself.  (The king of individualism….)  We should trust ourselves and not rely on old famous sages who lived long ago.  Don’t conform to what others in society want of you, be true to yourself.  My favorite picture that Emerson paints is embedded in the following brief passage (using his favorite image of nature), “Society is a wave.  The wave moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not.  The same particle does not rise from the valley to the ridge.  Its unity is only phenomenal.  The persons who make up a nation today, next year die, and their experience with them.”  His essays provide me a depth of reflection on my own life and what I believe.  Why should not my voice be the one I follow?  I take responsibility for me and my thinking, actions, and outcomes.  Pretty refreshing, but oops, I’m looking to a past sage for input.  Wonder how Emerson feels about that?  Great to read the classic thinkers.