Thoughts on Emerson

“A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance 

I remember the first time I read Emerson's essay on self-reliance. I was moved, as many are, by his strong convictions. Certain passages seemed to leap from the page and dare me to speak with the same self-assured authority. This was writing that called to the impetuous youth in me. I found myself thinking, "I am a brilliant mind with great truths and beautiful ideas to share with the world!"  
I think that everyone goes through a time when they feel as I have in such moments. There is a sense of discovery, of importance and possibility. The world feels small compared with the big thoughts that float through your consciousness just waiting to spoken into being! I certainly hope that everyone has felt something akin to that sense of enlightenment.

That said, life has a multitude of perspectives to show each of us, just as we have many different sides to ourselves that we only become aware of as we grow. I learned, for instance, the childish weakness of a voice like Emerson. I imagined what a fragmented mess a society of such self-reliant people would be. The process was a frustrating one for me. I hate the sense of disillusionment that descends when one sees the cracks in the foundation of a beautiful world-view hat smacks of truth. It is hard to let go of the wonderful ideal held in the past. It was difficult to figure out what part of Emerson's beautiful perspective to try to hold onto as the cracks widened and large picture fell to pieces.

I feel that this process happens to many in life. We "dream dreams" in our young days but as our world grows, those dreams shatter or become untenable. We are eventually left with a strong sense of disillusionment that mostly manifests itself in witty sarcasm. The well-educated learn to doubt statements that are "manifestly true", looking for the flaws in ideas and qualifying any strong statement with many caveats that would likely have driven Emerson to avoid their society.

And yet, that voice still rings true. I still dream of that perfect truth that needs no qualifying statements, no disclaimers. I still overflow with ideas that I am loathe to speak lest they prove false or too small for the world of tomorrow. And sometimes, I hear those ideas in the voices of others and feel a coward who must accept my own ideas from another.

In this blog, I hope to write my own big Emersonian ideas. Some will be good, others bad. I will do my best to consider all things but it is human to err. Rather than be overly careful, I will speak my thoughts without apology or regret. In this way, I hope to satiate the young Emerson living inside me. I may even have a few things to say that are new and make a difference in the world. Even if that never happens, I will continue for my own sake. In many ways, it is a dark world we live in. I want to hold tight to any "gleam of light" that passes through my mind, inspect it, record it, and continue optimistically my quest for the deeper truths of life.

Join me or don't. Agree or disagree. Post your own thoughts and I will try to reply. Or just read along and follow my journey.