Emerson: Nature

While, Emerson’s Nature was richly interesting in the manner of thinking deeper on philosophical level, I found many parts of it daunting and difficult to follow at times. I would find myself re-reading passages and still wondering what it was that I just read. It was only through our class discussions that I was able to gain a firm grasp on some of the ideas Emerson was exploring. The main idea or aspect to his writing in Nature that seemed to gather and repeat itself was the notion of living and interacting with life rather than just following or going through the motions. Emerson wanted to encourage the idea of taking an active part in life, all of which he categorized as a part of nature. I liked he take on the difference between the idea of farming and man farming, and how we are not simply what we do, if we believe that it makes us less than what we are. I found that interesting because it seems to reflect off onto the notion people have today of putting a label on everything and everyone. Whether its through games, text messaging, Facebook, or Twitter, there seems to be push to compartmentalizing the whole lives and personalities of people into a single post or twit. I think Emerson was getting at the idea that we can’t shove our beings, our nature’s into one word or phrase; it devalues ourselves and doesn’t begin to due justice to the meaning of our lives. I think this spoke to me because my social, educational, or occupational statuses are not what solely define me as a person. I don’t think labels like that can sum an entire person’s life, nor should they. Emerson’s view on this made me really think about what kind of world our generation lives in today.