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https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45477/song-of-myself-1892-version
This poem by Walt Whitman displays many transcendental themes. Song of Myself is a poem that celebrates individuality and non conformity. It also places importance on not allowing society to poison your mindset with lines “I breathe the fragrance myself and know it and like it,

The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it.”. This refers to how society tries to force everyone to conform with sweet promises almost like the sweet scent of perfume, but you can’t let that control you. You have to be your own person and refuse to conform

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This photograph was taken during a challenge three of my friends and I decided to do. In the challenge we created, we had different tasks we had to do. We started at 9 pm and the challenge ended at 9 pm. Within that time we had to build a fire and keep it going for 3 hours while writing an essay about the experience we were having. After that we did manual labor in the form of hauling logs across the campsite. After that we did a timed hike and watched the sunrise. We completed more manual labor and reflected on our experience in that time. To make the challenge a bit more of a self reflection we placed a silence ban on ourselves until the 12 hours was completed. We called it the Wilderness Woman challenge. During the challenge it was a time for me to relish in nature, something I truly adore. I took the opportunity to reflect on my beliefs in God and how it was so easy to see him in everything I did in that challenge. Just like transcendentalists I believe God is everywhere in nature. I believe in simple living and marching to the beat of your own drum. All of those things are exactly what our wilderness woman challenge is about. We created a time for each of us to get lost in the beauty of Gods creation

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This is another photograph taken by a friend of mine on yet another of our many hikes. On this hike we went to the peak of Eagles Nest, a beautiful mountain in North Carolina. We did this to observe the most amazing sunset we had ever seen, to have time to reflect on ourselves in nature, and to camp out. In that time we were overwhelmed by the beautiful things God had created. We were living completely 100% in that moment. we only worried about things that applied to us right then. We might not have spent our summer like most teens our age, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

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This quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson is also a quote pushing free thought and individualism. Encouraging people not to follow the path of the masses but instead to create their own path. This quote could also be related to how when there is no destination in mind and you are living in the moment, there is no wrong way. Just because you’re going off the beaten path does not make the path you choose wrong. You are free to choose whichever path you please. Every little twist and turn is completely up to you.

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This Thoreau quote emphasizes the importance of not conforming to society. In transcendentalism, free thought is very important. Individualism is a large part of the philosophy. This puts focus on being what you are and not doing something just because it’s what everyone else is doing. There is no freedom in conformity and becoming something you are not to be like others. Instead of assimilating, set yourself apart from the group and refuse to conform. That’s what I believe this quote really embodies.

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This quote relates to an important transcendentalist philosophy of living simply. Thoreau took time to live simply out in nature and connect his spirit with it. This is in fact a quote from Thoreau himself. When your entire mindset is aligned with the will of nature it’s hard to be unhappy because you are living in the moment and taking things as they come. Not only are you only taking what you need from the world by living simply, but you are respecting nature and allowing her to share her spirit with you.

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This quote reinforces the idea that transcendentalists see the hand of God in everything. They believe that God is embodied in nature and that by connecting with nature they can connect with God. This quote also relates to the transcendentalist idea of being in the moment and not just going through the motions of life but really BEING and feeling truly alive. This quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py4baYFMzTY
This video is an enlightening disscussion of transcendental philosophy and a few of the men who really embraced the transcendentalist culture. It puts a strong emphasis on the importance of spirituality and balancing your own soul mind and body with that of nature and the rest of the universe. By doing that transcendentalists can really become one with nature and God.

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This article was written by John Kaag and Clancy Martin. This article not only discusses how Thoreau felt as if he had companionship in the natural world, but also the fact that he truly was not alone. this article actually focuses on a different transcendentalist thinker. His name was Brister Freeman. He too, lived near Waldon pond and bought into the ideas of free thinking and simplicity that transcendentalism offered. this article gives you an outline of someone who really thought like thoraeu.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/opinion/thoreaus-invisible-neighbors-at-walden.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FEmerson%2C%20Ralph%20Waldo&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection

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This article written by Ann Woodlief is a biography on Henry David Thoreau's life. she discussed how sometimes people perceived him incorrectly as a cranky man, but in reality he was a man with a passion for life and all it had to offer. In the article she discussed details of his life and how he got to be a transcendentalist.
http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu.edu/authors/thoreau/

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In this highly educational podcast, the basics of transcendentalism are outlined by Kellie Nichole. She covers that transcendentalists believe in simplicity, spirituality, and the importance of nature. she also gives a background introduction to the life of Henry David Thoreau, his past with Emerson, what brought him to Waldon pond, and his goals and ideals. She also gave her personal commentary and opinions on the life of Thoreau. in addition she shared some of the things transcendentalism had taught her.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Qm9kN15cZ6RfEqpwwEcRs?si=xEsdpIvXS5WBnkvyQrnCNg

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This is an image of another backpacking trip I took with some friends of mine in the summer. This one started at Max Patch North Carolina, but we had no end destination in mind. We just packed our bags with life's necessities and set out for another great adventure of simple living. In that way we were very much like transcendentalists. we took the clothes on our back and the tools we needed to survive, and headed into the wilderness to rid ourselves of all the extra man made distractions. We were minimalists at their most extreme. transcendentalists believe in only taking and using the things you absolutely need, and we certainly only carried the things we needed. We weren't certain where we were going, we were allowing the path to guide us, but we always had our free will over which path we might take due to the fact that we had no specific destination in mind.

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This image is from a backpacking trip my friends and I took in the summer. we decided we wanted to take a break from all the crazy pool parties and hike for two weeks on the Appalachian Trail. We spent those weeks reflecting on ourselves, nature, and how beautiful our God's creation is. We took time to journal and admire the beauty of the world we were so immersed in. In that time we spent hiking, we saw God in absolutely everything. He came to us in the views, an unexpected water source, or a warmer than usual night. We felt completely surrounded and I imagine that to be similar to transcendentalists. they too see God in everything, especially the natural world. When you take the time to listen to nature you feel as if nature begins to listen to you.

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This image shows a barefoot hiker. barefoot hiking is actually a passion of mine that i feel relates to transcendentalism. some people hike barefoot in order to be more connected to the nature they're so surrounded by in a more intimate way. I hike barefoot often to experience the freedom of hiking with free feet, unburdened with the straps of sandals or the weight of a boot. It's truly incredible feeling knowing there's no barrier between you and all God's beautiful creation. For me personally, it's an escape; and a stress reliever.

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The third song i have chosen is God in Jeans by Ryan Beatty. This song has some very interesting lyrics. "God is real He was sleeping in my bed last night" this line relates to how transendentalists see god everywhere in everything. and goes to the point of personifying him as sleeping in a bed. "love caught me crying freedom can die so hard" freedom as Thoreau described was much more simple than its general connotation. in his version of freedom you could be locked up completely but still have control of your thoughts and be free in that way. in this song it seems they have probably taken freedom in its literal sense because they said it could die. "i pray to the open sky because this is everything." It would be very in line with transcendentalist beliefs to pray to the sky.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1pu4luiWwVAcJRoCuqJfWg?si=HvpNpvNgRh-NQ4QyAZmNew

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The second song i have chosen is Freeze Your Brain from the musical Heathers. some of the lyrics can certainly relate to transcendentalism. "Happiness comes when everything numbs, who needs cocain? Freeze your brain". this song also shows that so many people are wasting their lives freezing and numbing their mind instead of opening it up to its full potential as transcendentalists do. While it might be easier to be a sheeple, it does not necesarily ensure happiness when you ignore nature and give into society's tools for numbing your mind. in fact, numbing your mind could be quite uneasy
https://open.spotify.com/track/0QCM97jGFzXZCxsWm3sgQ5?si=PqGHhYIHSzicc3yvHJx-tA

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The first song i have chosen is Diet Soda Society by The Maine.  The chorus of the song i feel relates to transcendentalism.
"Oblivion is where they're headed, but my mind is on the brink of going super nova" the first line relates to how most people live in mindless submission and are completely oblivious to their brainwashing, and the second lyric could relate to transcendentalism in the fact that transcendentalists are reaching a higher level of thinking and being and their minds, in a sense, go "super nova"
https://open.spotify.com/track/7th29u6DX01vM4KJlIBr1T?si=8x3V5ycZT0299Zu2vMuQfQ