Name
Course
Instructor
Date
Self
Reflection the
Sentiments by Self-Reliance by Ralph
Emerson
Self-Reliance, authored by Ralph
Emerson, is one of the interesting pieces of literature that evoke sentiments
on how one can lead a fulfilling and even happy life. Concisely, the author advocates
people to nurture self-reliance if they are to live a meaningful and
purposively life. Accordingly, people should desist from pursuing blindly the
paths of others. Instead, they should always trust and follow their instincts
and make personal choices. Self-reliance is the source of optimism and hope and
pillar of productive,
efficient, and self-sustaining society, while
imitation is death of an individual. In asserting his message, Ralph Emerson
uses pathos, logo and ethos, which he underscores using sentimental quotes. One
of his notable quotes is, “What must I do, is all that concerns me, not
what the people think” (Emmerson 5). Reflecting upon this quote and relating to
the personal life, I argue that it is a self-validating slogan and a recipe to
a happy and fulfilling life that will cushion one stress caused by societal
pressure and foster creativity for solving various personal problems.
Understanding the Context of the Quote
The quote is presented as an emphasis on the
need for individuals to shun from counting on approval from the society in
their pursuit of personal life goals. Essentially,
the author can be inferred to be acknowledging that a society can have adverse
effects on individual growth. The only countermeasure to this adverse effect is
self-sufficiency, which accords an individual the freedom to discover the self
and work towards attaining independence (Emmerson 3). Accordingly, the author
can be seen to urge the followers to nurture a habit of following individual
and desist from conforming to social expectations. People should also follow
their own voices instead of clinging to those of the intermediaries such as the
church. Moreover, every person should also be honest with their relationships, develop
own culture, and be concerned about personal progress instead of social
progress. The end goal of self-reliance is, in this case, a productive,
efficient, and self-sustaining society. Thus, one of the fascinating questions
to ask regarding Emerson’s Self-Reliance essay is whether his quote
is valid.
How I Agree with the Quote
A reflection on the quote in relation to
personal experiences qualifies it as a valid one. To begin with, the effect of
evaluating and pursuing individual goals in the lenses of the society is costly
and robs people of self-consciousness, causing them suffering that is otherwise
preventable. The suffering is largely a psychological problem characterized by
fears, worries and emotions resulting from the inability to fulfill societal
expectations. Therefore, if people can learn to understand and acknowledge that
suffering is caused by impermanent problems resulting from inability to fulfill
societal expectations that can be ignored, then they will be able to live a
happy and fulfilling life. However, this
begins with nurturing self-reliance and differentiating what matters to an
individual and believing in oneself.
Indeed,
I have once been a victim of lack of self-reliance, something that caused me to
make blunders. For instance, I used to think that the only source of happiness
is wealth. I would go by the society, cherishing capitalist ideals such as
loving money, big cars, houses and diamonds. I also used to think that there
were certain social standards that people should observe. I would struggle to
conform to the standards and ideals of society and stress myself. However, I
came to realize that such views were merely socially constructed and were
limiting me and making me a fool. There more I realized that life is how an
individual makes it, the more I realize that most of the things that the
society has created are vanity. I find that nurturing self-reliance has several
benefits.
In one way, it is a source of creativity and
a solution to many personal problems. The principle of the self-reliance
teaches people to strive towards making the informed rational choices. These
rational choices are expected to optimize happiness and lead to pleasurable
outcomes. Self-reliance gives ways to right
mindfulness encourages individuals to strive towards reconciling their feelings
with their soul, including nurturing positive feelings and image, while
shunning distress and greed with the reference to the ways of the world. Such
mindfulness encourages one to be conscious of the self and undertake the course
of actions that lead to happiness without waiting for approval of the society.
It then also follows that self-reliance is a
source is a source of right view. One will see that the right views encourage
individuals to nurture a positive perspective on life and circumstances. For
instance, it discourages one from being pessimistic just because other people
are. Moreover, it gives accords the
people the liberty to approach world issues with creativity and flexibility,
attesting to the fact that the solution to common world problems can be
resolved at an individual level. Therefore, one can consider it as a recipe for
the right course of thinking and acting, too. This right view is expected to
make one to lead a fulfilling life because it minimizes the problems associated
with the wrong perception that the society creates. After all, every person is
unique, meaning that the needs and abilities of every individual should not be
generalized or even be subjected to the same societal judgment (Livni).
Indeed,
society has been able to progress because some individuals came up with
original ideas. To do so, they had to move away from imitating and following
what common views and thinking of the society. The author acknowledges the
paths followed by philosophers such as Plato and eminent artists. In the same
way, self-reliance is expected to break the York of mental slavery and give
people the liberty to be creative in resolving problems. Thus, I have come to
establish these self-reliance teachings to relate to positive psychology, which
essentially subscribes to the ideology that living a happy and fulfilling life
is essentially a personal choice and that happiness can only be sought within
once soul. In this regard, I would
recommend that positive psychology should borrow self-reliance teachings to
enhance the viability of its practices from an interdisciplinary practice
perspective. By using this principle, psychology is best placed to help people
manage problems such as stress that people fall into because of worrying about
unfulfilled social expectations that are otherwise transient in nature and do
not mean much for life.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Emerson’s quote is a
self-validating slogan and a recipe for a happy and fulfilling life that will
cushion one stress resulting societal pressure and encourage creativity and
originality in solving personal problems. The quote encourages people to desist from pursuing blindly the paths of others.
Instead, they should always trust and follow their instincts and make personal
choices. Self-reliance is the source of optimism and hope and pillar of productive,
efficient, and self-sustaining society, while
imitation is the death of an individual. Indeed, lack of self-reliance robs
people of creativity and makes people mental slaves who cannot respond to
personal problems. Indeed, since every person is unique, the only way to
realize individual potential is to pursue the path of self-reliance.
Works Cited
Emerson,
Ralph. Self-Reliance. 1841. Web. 6th
December, 2018.<https://math.dartmouth.edu/~doyle/docs/self/self.pdf>
Livni,
Ephrat. Don’t be afraid to create: Ralph Waldo Emerson’s life-changing advice on
trusting your instincts. January 22, 2017. Web.
6th December, 2018. < https://qz.com/890636/ralph-waldo-emersons-essay-on-self-reliance-has-an-important-message-about-creativity>
