Self-Reliance
"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."
This statement means that in our lives, we are given one sacred object, and that is our mind. Our minds are unique to every person and special to each one of us. It is sacred in the idea that i can not be replaced or changed by anything else or anyone else. Nothing should be more important to us thatn the protection of our minds and the upholding and nourishing of them. our mind must grow and must stay strong and keep unchanged by outside forces. In other words, it must keep its integrity.
The word sacred often makes us think of something religious or somthing handed down to us by God, but here it has a different meaning. Here, the word sacred means reverently dedicated to some person, purpose, or object. This means that our mind and our souls are specifically given to us. It is like a fingerprint, we can be found and defined by our mind and by understanding our mind, people can find us.
This statement also tells us that the sacredness of our mind our mind itself is irreplaceable and can not be changed. Because of this we need to embrace our mind and what it brigns us and accept it for what it is. Insead of trying to change it in order to be accepted by other people, we have to realize that they can't be chagned by other people, they can only be changed by us. It is imperative that we accept our minds and let them be what they are. That is the point of them being sacred. Our minds and our souls are are special things that must be protected at all times in order to keep their sacredness intact. In order to keep this up we have to speak our minds and keep them strong to not let others destroy them by flooding our minds with other thoughts that are not ours but soon begin to seem like they are ours because other people force us to accept them. We have to respect our minds and protect them with all our heart. We have to trust our minds and believe that our own thoughts are sacred enough to get us through anything.
All this may seem a little harsh, but the point is that people should not be able to change our minds for us. This doesn't mean that we can't change our minds for ourselves, it just means that we can't let other people or any other outside force change our minds for us.
Speak your mind and never doubt.
2 comments:
Elizabeth, I think you did a fantastic job in describing what Emerson had to say. I have read quite a few other peoples thoughts about Emerson's self-reliance essay, and yours is by far the most unique and thought-provoking. I agree with you in the sense that our minds our sacred. And it is true that we often thing of sacred as a religious term, but in this context it does mean so much more and I really enjoyed how you verified that. The thought of my mind being just like my fingerprint is amazing. I never have thought of it like that, and that is why I think your response to the self-reliance essay is phenomenal. You bring up the very important point that we should not change our minds for other people. Our minds are our own, and they do not belong to anyone else. Therefore, since they don't belong to any one else we shouldn't let other people change our minds by force. I mean, no one can change our fingerprints, so how are they capable of changing our minds? This isn't to say that we aren't allowed to change our minds. Just like you said we can let other people inspire us, but we can not let other people force change in our opinions upon us. In conclusion Elizabeth, you did a fantastic job in responding to Emerson's confusing yet inspiring essay on self reliance.
People, have such a tendency to be like other people. Human beings in general are jealous beings. We see soemthing that we want and dont have and we long for it. Whether it be beauty, wealth, intellegence, etc. Emerseon, however, is saying that you should be proud of what you have. You shouldnt long for something you dont have. Use what you have to contribute to a society. I think if everybody could do this, than the world would function so much smoother=)
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