In the excerpt from “Self-Reliance,” Ralph Waldo Emerson is trying to communicate to us. What should we learn and what can we learn from what he has written in his story. Ralph wrote his essay “Self-Reliance,” in 1841. In his essay he wants us to find independence by his writing and the three things he wants us to find are to trust yourself, working hard for our goals, and by embracing the power of changing our minds.


Emerson first talks about is that we should trust ourselves and that every heart has a vibration to an iron string. Wherever you are that is the place that the providence has found for you, so you should accept what that has picked for you to be at. Many people have different childlike to their age. People make different decisions that they want and many people may pick a harder choice and will take them to another path.


Emerson also talks about working hard for our goals that we want to achieve. Many people have different ways to achieve their own goal and if they achieve it than that means they worked hard for what they get. They may have a easier task to accomplish their need and some may need a lot more work. Do what makes you feel that’s in the right path and have confidence in what your working for.


The last thing that Emerson talks about is embracing the power of changing our minds. We can change our mind into thinking what is bad and good. People may not have the power to change our minds without any thought. When he says “Speak what you think but now in hard words, and to morrow speak what to-morrow think in hard words again.” I think that it means that you should speak hard and then soft and then hard again.


Emerson wrote this in 1841 of self-reliance. He talks about to trust yourself, work hard for your goals, and by embracing the power to change your mind. These are some things he wants to try to communicate to us.


-Rylan

Ralph Emerson Waldo - "Self-Reliance"

Sarina

      Aptitude for change

      Ralph Emerson Waldo entices his readers to depend on yourself when it comes to your thoughts

and actions. To not conform to the nature of the many and follow your intuition. To accept and grasp

the potential for change. Emerson explains how that is a very valued power. Without embracing

change or having the ability to think for yourself, advancements for the better will never be made.

Emerson encourages us to think and speak for ourselves but still be aware of our surroundings.


      No profit earned by another's work can be calmly bestowed upon you. You can't take credit for

another's work without the consequences that come from your thoughts. You are at the mercy of your

own mind and to disrupt that would be the making of your own punishment. To work for what you

have and to feel you have earned it offers true relief and security. There is no greater feeling than

being acknowledged for the work you put in that led to your success or got you on the path to

your success. Working your hardest does come with its tribulations but the outcome is even more

triumphant. For we cannot appreciate the sun without the rain.


     Accommodating your thoughts and actions to suit the ideas of others would be the death of your

independence. In society, majority does rule with the reign of an iron fist. But you must not comply to

the prevailing standards that is society or nature. I don't believe Emerson is abolishing the idea of

relying on someone or something. He is simply stating in a complex manner to be your own person

and be responsible for your own decisions.


     We as humans are adaptable, but we don't like change. A reason we don't like change is we get

comfortable where we're at. Even if our current situation isn't perfect or even the best we accept it

because it's familiar. But what people don't understand is that change is inevitable. We as humans

prefer to stay in a mundane state of mind because anything beyond is misunderstood and people are

scared of what they don't understand. I believe one of the statements Emerson is trying to make is to

expand your horizons and keep an open mind to anything because change is inevitable and you have

to be ready for it.


       "With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do" Emerson stated in his excerpt from

"Self-Reliance". Most people don't take witness to their full or even some of their potential because

they are stuck in their own routine that is comfortability. Emerson says to say or do something

tomorrow even if it contradicts what you say today.  Don't go against your own moral values but learn

to accept what others value and keep an open mind to new principles if you are not satisfied with

what you have. Be charismatic with your independent mind and ideas. We live and breathe as a whole

but are different because we each have our own individual purpose.
 

Some things are good to have people beside you to help and support you, but there are times when you need to figure out stuff on your own.  Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote his essay, “Self-Reliance,” in 1841, in his essay he advises his readers to look and search for independence by trusting yourself, being you, and he also tries to convey information about the world.

One way of finding independence is to trust in yourself and your decisions even if it’s the wrong one. In Emerson essay he says “Every heart vibrates to that iron string.” I think this means everyone’s heart sings a song maybe a different note here to there, a different tune, or a stronger melody but we all have our own instrument to play. He also talks about to not be a coward or a traitor but a guide and a benefactor. Which means to not go against your decisions or to betray yourself, but to teach your truths and your mistakes.

Another way to find independence is by being you. “Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood?”, “To be great is to be misunderstood.” Who can be yo better than you? I think it's better to be a window then a mirror. Say you're a window people will see right through you and if the window moves they’ll probably never see the exact same thing twice, a window always changes but if you are a mirror you're just an imitation of the person that is looking at you. Everyone wants to be this wants to have that to be the next big thing or the person that matters and their never really themselves and it's a shame there are more mirrors than windows in this world because you'll never get the chance to see clearly in a crowd.

Lastly Emerson tries to convey that being independent is not a bad thing because to be independent is to be free. “Absolve you to yourself.” He's saying to set free or pardon yourself to you, to let yourself know who you are and to not cover it up because if you've found yourself why would you what to lose it. He talks about to always know that being independent will be a good thing to yourself and it doesn't matter who says otherwise should not influence your choices.

Emorson’s essay covers a lot of good points to find independence by trusting in yourself, being you, and has a good way of conveying the message. These points that he has made has carried over through the times as well not only was it for the time period that he wrote it but has been used even today. As a whole I think self-reliance means to be dependant on ones self. Everyone might have a different view on what it means but it's your own stand point no one else’s.

-Jyotis

Oh Why? Oh life!

Oh why? Oh life! Pain I feel all day in mind and soul

Oh pain of love I receive from family and friends

Oh pain of lies I am told daily by my demons

Oh pain of the life I live and never want to see tomorrow

For why am I no good to understand human love I receive

For why am I not grateful enough for what I have to support me

For why am I fighting to stay alive each day just to wanna leave another

For why do I wish I had gone each night before I rest?

   Answer

You have a light shining brighter than most before, and you have so much good in you, that evil wants to fill as much darkness in you as much as there is light.

Oh WOW!

Oh wow! I struggle and repent

Oh wow! I fly then lose altitude

Oh wow! Faithless to find the answer 

Oh wow! I ask you to show me the way

Oh wow! Contribute to live

Oh wow! So many paths intertwined to the answer

Answer:

We struggle to find the answer but It's litterally right in front of us.

Go and look you will find endless roads but to find out you are truly blessed 

Contribute a verse

My Life

My life in it what will I do?
If it's my life can I choose what I do?
The struggle of Identity is the hardest to break.
To find out what I mean.
To find out what I'll do.
what will I do?
Answer,
Simple I will live and do what I like and can do.
                                                                         -Jerry

Oh me! Oh life!
Of the endless cycle of work, eat, sleep, repeat.
Of the vain concept of beauty always just out of reach.
Of the sad self talk and the unrelenting material desires.

Oh me! Oh life!
What does it mean to by happy?
What does it mean to walk in love?

                   Answer:
Learn to Relax. Learn to Love.
Love for yourself, love for others, love for Life.
And always remember that We are wonderfully and fearfully made.

-Ashley