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As one is engrossed by the modesty of nature, meaning and sense of self is found in the grove.

Transcendentalism encourages the individual to follow the organic and simplistic behavior of nature to reach a state of true personal understanding, and thus be in the condition to best contribute to the betterment of humanity.

One must “walk like a camel…said to be the only beast which ruminates when walking” (Thoreau 2)

Go to the woods “to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach” (Thoreau 3)

“The tranquil landscape” is where “man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature” (Emerson 2)

“To believe that what is true for you in your private heart… — that is genius” (Emerson 1)

“The voices [heard] in solitude…grow faint and inaudible”, and as civilization tries to strip its citizens of their autonomy, “self-reliance is its aversion” (4)

“Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine” (Thoreau 20)

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The human attention span and the subsequent decline in patience poses a detriment to the individual's ability to participate in transcendentalism, distracted by the content on their phones and quick to consume the products that pique their given momentary desires.

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A few friends and I went on a hike to a dam, appreciating the natural beauty of late summer; I'm probably pointing out some cool rocks.

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Walking my dog Coffee, we discuss the quality of grass, making conversation about the state of nature as he contemplates where the most desirable restroom patch is in the park.

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I am taking a nap on the beach, taking a break from the bustle of daily life by resting outside.

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#lovethelittlethings is an urge to find beauty in the "inconsequential", to enjoy the silence between sounds, the space between bustle, the time between busy days.

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Headline wars, a gun to the head
The forest burns as words are read
The morning doves all drop dead
All is lost, all is lost
To be better is to have already been great
Too far to walk, can’t get there in wake
Crawl blindly on a tightrope as birds fly above
All is lost, all is lost
Too long are the hours
Yet too little the time
How far I will wander sees a limit in my mind
To think is to kill, and for that, I’m at a loss
I am lost, I am lost

That which I hate is that which I want
Vengeance is a shield, hides the scar of a mark
Mockery a privilege, a mask I wear proud
I am lost, I am lost
To love is to lose, to hurt is to heal
Try as I might nothing ever feels real
I am lost, I am lost
All will change, so will a rock
Weathered away, nothing will stay
But still, the trees sway and the grass will still wave
The waves will still crash, so the sand will still play
All has lost, all has lost

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The verse I will contribute will be one that is kind, but not one that is demure. It will be loud in volume but quiet in content. I won’t stand to blindly confer those that go against my virtues, but will be seated to listen to those who have gained my respect through that which they do, and the silence between the words they speak. I will help all that I can, and find ways to contribute positively to those around me, even if it is in the dark and out of sight. I find accomplishment not in that which is acknowledged and awarded by others, but rather in successfully aligning my actions with my morals. Above all else, regardless of my own biases or thoughts, it is imperative that I treat others the best I can, to extend my hand no matter what I believe, as dedication to kindness will rule above all else.

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The photo of annotated books represents the Dead Poets Society because of the movie's encouragement of free thought and intellectual interpretation, urging individuality rather than simply reading what is said, and doing what is done.

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In "O Me! O Life!", Walt Whitman accentuates the importance of individuality and contribution to the endless poem of human existence in the midst of those who don't. Though life moves fast like the subway, and even the most influential may eventually be forgotten in the blur of the cars and the ocean of others, it is only such that will move society forward. Whitman wants everyone to try their best to add to the movement of humanity onward and upwards, to be like Mr. Keating in their impact on others. It is to have the courage to influence the faithless in uncertainty, even if others have different stops and destinations, even if you get off before you can see the effect of your life on others.

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"These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Society suppresses free thought and individuality in the pursuit of cognitive consistency and perceived peace via the relinquishment of free will, but Emerson believes that a divergence from convention like the black sheep above is the key to the dissolution of civilization's detrimental regularity.

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"Truth, and goodness, and beauty, are but different faces of the same All. But beauty in nature is not ultimate. It is the herald of inward and eternal beauty, and is not alone a solid and satisfactory good. It must stand as a part, and not as yet the last or highest expression of the final cause of Nature."

Emerson believes the measure of beauty to be an amalgamation of many factors and many perspectives like those above, none of which are definite in their valuation, and all of which only "stand as a part" of how nature chooses to manifest itself to the eye of the viewer.

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"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

To be in the woods like those pictured above allows Emerson to return to a state of being where he is indistinguishable from his environment, an equal part in the nature he engulfs himself in as he forgets the constructs society subjects him to, going back to the truest of "reason and faith".

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"When sometimes I am reminded that the mechanics and shopkeepers stay in their shops not only all the forenoon, but all the afternoon too, sitting with crossed legs, so many of them—as if the legs were made to sit upon, and not to stand or walk upon—I think that they deserve some credit for not having all committed suicide long ago." - Henry David Thoreau

Ever blunt and brash in his delivery, Thoreau mocks and pities those who work, relegated to remaining stationary instead of immersing themselves in nature as he does on his walks; he is shocked that they haven't fallen pray to how depressing environments like the office space above must make them feel, or as he boldly put it, "committed suicide long ago".

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In Madison Beer's song "Envy the Leaves", she touches on Transcendental tenets by employing various changes that nature goes through overtime as an extended metaphor for the uncertainties and anxieties she faces in daily life, striving to be as secure and innocently unbothered as that which she sees outside her window.

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1A ~ “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”

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1A ~ “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”

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"It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour." - Henry David Thoreau

One can master the art of intentional living as detailed by Thoreau by partaking in the exact activity he uses as a metaphor for such a lifestyle, the above painting of a cornfield no doubt a result of someone spending quality time "paint[ing] a particular picture" in nature.