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This is a picture I took on the way to New York. To me this picture represents peace and solitude with oneself. In the sky you are taken away from ordinary life, you can't use your phone, and you get to be an essence of somewhere else for a little while. When sitting up there above everyone and everything you know, you are only left with yourself and your thoughts and it is a comforting realization to be amongst the puffy white clouds that you once stared at with curiosity.

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"What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote by Emerson encourages the actions of an individual. In laments terms, it basically is saying practice what you preach. Actions will always speak louder than words and to fully give your words and substance or value, you must be willing to follow them through and live by them.

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"Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves." -Henry David Thoreau

This quote by Thoreau exemplifies the major underlining of what it means to be a transcendentalist. You will ne ver be able to find yourself when you're living comfortably in a place you feel at home. To truly discover yourself you must remove yourself from your known element and face new delimas and ways of life. Only then will you understand fully who you are.

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"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." -Henry David Thoreau

This quote symbolizes Henry's zest for life. He believed to be truly living you have to do things spontaneously and with livelihood.

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I chose a TED talk titled "Less Stuff, More Happiness", a title that already envelopes the ideas of minimalism. The speaker approaches the stage with a box and places it down and takes a seat on top of it. He continues by saying to the crowd that he knows their instant curiosity is drawn to the essence of the box. This forms a platform as he shares facts about our current. population and how ownership over items has sky rocketed, alongside, the number of storage units is increasing immensely. This travels into a story of how he moved to a very small apartment which he then filled with items of practicality. Beds that folded up into walls, desks that turned into kitchen tables that seat 10, and sinks that are combined with toilets. All of the above construct the idea of minimalism. He continues to show that with more stuff, you have more ties, and people have proven to be less happy. This display of minimalism is exactly the type of thing Henry David Thoreau sought after. Life compressed. When only given the bare essentials, you're forced to focus on other aspects of life. You are removed from materialism and you are further embarking upon the true essence of what it means to not just be breathing, but what it means to be alive. Reduce your ties and be liberated.

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Podcast (The Bicentennial of Henry David Thoreau, pt. 2)

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Podcast (The Bicentennial of Henry David Thoreau, pt. 2)

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Within this podcast, the writer embarks upon the Concord Lake where Thoreau himself once was. Along side him is a tour guide who speaks of the deeper meaning that runs through transcendentalism. He submits ideas of individualism and soulful connections between man and his environment. He tells the writer that Thoreau believed the fisherman to be the most wisdomatic person of all. He believed this connection between the man and the solitude of his environment, made him sincerely close and one with nature spiritually. In addition, he also discusses how Thoreau and his brother set out on that same lake as a search for individualism. They hand made their boat out of wood so symbolize minimalism and embarked upon their journey of mass discovery within.

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This is a picture of me and one of my best friends in ocean embracing all the wonderful things that is the beach. Ive always had the strongest love for the water for as long as I can remember. For me, the water is a place of enlightenment. My home is far behind, there is. only water and sand below me, and the crashing of the waves creates the overwhelming sensations that my problems are crashing with it towards the shore as I swim out to sea. Surrounded by the sea salt filled air and slimy fish at my feet, I have never felt closer to becoming the person I am meant to be.

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This picture uses objects in nature to depict the intertwined relationship between man and nature. It shows that the essence of man holds an environmental aspect. The rose and the butterfly that inhabit half of the skeleton reflect the spirituality of the matter. Religion is a deep aspect of the human existence and in transcendentalism is reached through nature, thus the reason for a skeletal system being the display of this artwork.

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This image symbolizes the connection between humanity and nature itself. We as people are organically made, as is nature. Society has idolized the "higher-power" as the possessor of power, change and humanity, where as transcendentalism along side pantheism celebrates the power of the individual through nature. It is believed that to be one with nature is in essence "one with God". This picture represents just that, given split connection between human and nature that is portrayed.

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"You don't need diamond rings
Or eighteen karat gold
Fancy cars that go very fast
You know they'll never last no, no.."
Madonna here expresses words of minimalism, another component of transcendentalism. She uses some of the most idolized objects by society to symbolize materialism then follows us by saying "you know they'll never last". This represents the idea that possessions hold no sentiment and no value beyond aesthetic representation. It means that there is more to life than what you own and mental composition and values should hold hierarchy over tangible items.

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"Better stand tall
When they're calling you out
Don't bend
Dont break
Baby, don't back down..."
Throughout the song, Bon Jovi states his appeal to living his life to the fullest and for no one but himself. He exudes words of individualism which is a large component of transcendentalism. Within these line he shows his rejection to social norm. He advises "stand tall when they're calling you out" basically meaning don't be afraid to go against the current even if you stand alone. People who adjust to social norms will continue to push those actions upon others, thus forming a cookie cutter society that deems any non-conformist, an outcast.

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"What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son.."
Micheal Jackson symbolizes the relationship between society and earth in these stanzas. He elaborates the transformation of what used to be a bright green earth full of life, is now being abused by those that inhabit it. He also uses "son" to demonstrate the parental like bond that is known between the earth and humanity, thus "Mother Nature". It creates the message that the bond should be harmonious and co-benifical to then create peace.

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"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." -Henry David Thoreau

Henry shows evidence of a minimalist mindset in this quote. So commonly people have begun to associate who a person is by what they own. Inanimant objects have become such a time consuming part of the society we know. This quote uses abstract ideas to contrast the idea of spending money vs wasting life. As an example, a phone is only worth the life you exchange for it, meaning its actual value is only deemed important if you're willing to sacrifice the time you could be experiencing real life, instead will now be spent on the phone. How much human life and time are you willing to waste on something that only holds tangible value?

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Walt Whitman creates this piece to express the nature of individualism in a community. He studies a blade of grass amongst several other blades of grass to exemplify the fact that he is a mere spect in a community. Allan Ginsburg (the author) makes this connection and compares it by saying he feels many Americans forget about other countries in the world and neglect bigger issue that don't lie within their borders. He furthers this by also allowing recognition to the fact that everyone is different in their own way, thus no one truly being the same blade of grass. Allen then again suggests that change. must start within thee individual. Change will not happen without action and this flows along-side similar styles that Henry David Thoreau displayed with his disobedience to the war. Walt Whitman also states that all the grasses origin is the same, the dirt. This is a parallel to the origin of humanity. We are all created the same way, it is how we evolve that introduces contrast upon us all. While applauding the individual in this piece, he is making a continuous connection to man and nature to keep a transcendentalist tone. Allan Ginsburg (the author) uses these ideas in Thoreau's poem to express his attitude toward individualism.
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/taking-walk-through-leaves-grass

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Flaxman is a poem by Maragret Fuller that circulates the ideas of individuality and independence from others conclusion. She begins the poem by referring to the basis of religion such as gods and higher powers which hold hierarchy over the common man in the public eye. She proceeds to refer to humanity as people given wealth by being able to "dissect analyze and explore" but that quality is much neglected due to this reliance that has formed within the people to always look to someone else for the answer. She further encourages questioning and self discovery through nature to obtain a self sustained belief system to close the writing. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46468/flaxman

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This picture represents the unity of nature and humanity through transcendentalism. The people stand in the center of the tree to symbolize how nature is around us all and is the basis of life. We live our life in companionship alongside nature and through the ways transcendentalism, we are very much as a living aspect of it.

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Walt Whitman uses themes of individualism to create a side by side parallel flow of the contrast between the individual and the whole. The author of this article emphasizes Walt's belief in healthy "aloneness" vs "loneliness" which hold to be two very different concepts. Walt proceeds to refer to the conjunctional humanity as "democratic" and "en-mass" to represent the communal aspect of nature and as the author of this article also states, a referral to his political system at the time. Walt then follows this point up with making the comparison between physiognomy and the brain, referring to their importance when together but if the meaning behind the facade is empty it may hold no value. Walt closes the reading by expressing his value in finding passion and greatness in the things he indulges into, for life without passion is therefore meaningless.
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/walt-whitmans-song-of-myself.php