Am I a Transcendentalist?

So, am I a transcendentalist?  Well I agree with many things that the transcendentalist writers had promoted.  I believe that God is in all of us because we were created in his image, and he is always with us.  I believe that all people have good inside of them, just experiences and personal suffering causes man to turn to evil and sin.  I also believe that one must find happiness within himself or herself to truly be content with life.  A passage in Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance that stood out to me was, "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron sting. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you..."  I really like that line because I believe that it is critical for people to have self-trust and self-confidence.

Another thing that may make me a transcendentalist is my love for nature.  I really love doing anything outside, and in the dark, gloomy Wisconsin winters, all I crave is sun.  Now, I could not live in the wilderness in a tent, but I do appreciate all that nature has to offer.


On aspect of transcendentalism that I do not agree with, or do not particularly follow, is the idea that conformity is bad.  I understand that if everyone is sinful and succumbs to temptation, then hopping on the bandwagon is not the best idea, but if everyone learns to love each other and celebrate the good things in life, then conformity is not so terrible!  There are different kinds of conformity, good and evil, and distinguishing between the two can sometimes be difficult.


I know I may sound naïve, but I feel that everyone has some good inside of them, and a truly peaceful world is possible.  Transcendentalism, to me, represents optimism and happiness while anti-transcendentalism represents pessimism and doubt in humanity.  I know the anti-transcendentalists are just trying to "keep it real" but I feel that that only seeing the bad in people is a very negative outlook on life, and who wants that?  I'd much rather be happy!


So, am I a transcendentalist?  To that question I answer, yes sir!

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FOR HALLE SIEBERT

When in the course of human events, one becomes too dependent on the over-the-top, flowery storylines of romantic comedies, it becomes necessary for that person to dissolve their emotional ties to this entity.

I hold these truths to be self-evident, that all romantic comedies are equally wicked and should be completely removed from film selections everywhere.  These films infringe on people’s inalienable rights of life, liberty, and their pursuit of happiness by creating false images of love and passion.  Movies are created to depict real events or tell stories that issue an influential morale; they are not created to instill a false sense of romance among teen girls and middle-age women.  It is the people’s right to burn and destroy films that violate this cinematic code of reality and truth.  To prove that romantic comedies are completely corrupt, let these facts be submitted to a candid world.

They have issued chains of suffering upon young and old men alike; bound by the love of their wives, these men are forced to rest their eyes upon these horrid images of sappy romance.  Too many hours have been wasted upon these mindless films.

They have created false images of love and passion in young girls’ minds making it nearly impossible for a suitor to sweep these women off their feet; they are immune to the mundane practices of real-life romance. 

These evil films have hurt the game of love in today’s society.  Men no longer have a chance to impress the female population with their offerings of admiration.

They have caused heightened expectations of how men should prove their love towards the women that they are currently pursuing.  The women will never be satisfied with a simple box of chocolates or a single flower.

These romantic disasters have caused men to appear unsatisfactory to the female population in this country.  Since women are no longer open to the gifts of love that these males are offering them, our population will eventually cease to exist; therefore, these films continue to threaten our very existence and vivacity.

Ultimately these films will tear our country to shreds in social frustration.  People will continue to be unsatisfied by the lack of companionship readily available in today’s society.  These films are nothing but malicious and cause much pain and disappointment among citizens today.

I, therefore, a young, American woman, by authority of my own experiences solemnly publish and declare my independence from romantic comedies.  I will no longer be bound by their ruthless hands of misconception of love and romance; I will pursue other ways of life.  I have the right to find happiness and if these films are hindering my ability to do so, I have the duty to burn and destroy these entities.  With firm reliance on the protection of divine adoration, I pledge my life to finding real romance and love in its sacred honor.

Halle Siebert

Novissima et acuratissima totius Americae

This is a map that was illustrated by Gerard Schagen of Amsterdam in 1671.  It depicts California as an island and only shows one great lake instead of four.  He largely detailed the interior of both North and South America with various animals, rivers, and mountain ranges.  He also included many ships at sea and an “image” of the native population in the bottom left corner.

One thing that I had noticed right away when I looked at this map was the illustration of the native population.  It is what Europeans of the time would normally perceive as the indigenous people of the Americas.  They are wearing minimal clothing, shooting arrows, and harvesting food.  This was very stereotypical and helped reinforce the notion that the native people were savages and less advanced than European society.  This relates to John Smith’s General History of Virginia.  He had depicted the natives as savages and barbarians, which was the common thought of the time, and this map is no exception to this thought.

I had also noticed the gold bars in the illustration in the bottom left corner.  This shows how the conquistadors and explorers commonly thought the Americas were littered with gold.  Many explorers only went over to America because of the hope to find gold, which would inevitably lead to personal glory.  Most of these men searched years and years for gold but turned up empty handed.  By including the gold bars in this picture, it helped keep the belief of gold in the Americas alive; it kept explorers traveling and going back to America.

There were also snakes illustrated in the picture as well.  I viewed this as a biblical illusion because snakes represent the devil and temptation.  Religion was a very important part of European society during this time, and many people thought that the natives were heathens and were “compelled to characterize native religion as idolatrous or as ‘Divell worship’.”  By including two snakes in this illustration, it kept people believing in this misconception of the Native Americans and their religion.

http://www.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/1671s2.jpg