Free Thought

"If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking."

-Benjamin Franklin

Everyone has a mind of their own. I'm sure Transcendentalists had very different thoughts compared to each other. Everyone's minds are so unique that when one person reads a sentence he thinks blue while another thinks red and another yellow. We have the capacity to let our minds go to places they've never been in. Transcendentalism is a movement that tells you to be yourself and no one else. To have your own mind is the key to living life.

Confidence

"If I told him he wasn't a dog, he would get sad."

-Anonymous

 As i referred to in my "Nonconformity" blog, teenagers also struggle and play with confidence. As a teenager myself, I'll say that i have a lot of confidence. Probably to much as some of my friends say. Confidence is one thing all Transcendentalists believe in, and although i am not one myself, and not everyone is, you should have confidence no matter what. Not only should jocks and cheerleaders  have confidence but everyone whether you are a band geek or a math nerd. Everyone needs confidence.

Nonconformity

Nonconformity is a self-explanitory word, to not conform. In the 21st century, with most teenagers, teens try so hard to "fit in" which is conforming. But Transcendentalists believed everyone deserved to be themselves. Nonconformity is so strong that even conforming with Transcendentalism is against nonconformity.“She was a surprise, and let's face it, few people are,”  this is a quote to reflect on for most teens.

Self-Reliance

Self-Reliance is simply believing in yourself. To rely on yourself is hard for us but i believe that it has become very easy throughout the years. In Emerson's essay Self-Reliance, Emerson explains that when in solitude an individual has voices "which grow faint and inaudible as we enter the world." In the picture above Einstein's self-reliance seems to come from the doubt that come from others towards him. This way Einstein believes in himself and, as we know, is a great scientist that we appreciate.

Nature

As one of the tenets of Transcendentalism, Nature explains the love of being part of the world and a part of God. in Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Nature, Emerson explains that we are corrupted by society and that we need nothing society offers but the resources that nature gives. My favorite part of Emerson's Nature is the quote "The sun illuminates only the eye of man, but shines into the eye and the heart of a child." I like this quote the best because, to me, it explains that man is so corrupted by society that they cannot notice the beauty of nature anymore while a child is completely fascinated by anything and everything around him until once he becomes man and is corrupted as well.