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Pretender by AJR ft. Lil Yachty and Steve Aoki

I'm a good pretender
I'm not really cool
I'm a good pretender
'Cause I'm just like you
I do not belong here
You all clearly do
But I'm a good pretender
So I'm just like you

I must admit, I was quite annoyed when I was listening to this song when I realized how much it sounded like transcendental ideals. There is no escape from this class, but I guess that is something that I will have to deal with. This song is all about how people pretend to be other people so that they fit in. Everyone is pretending to be someone they are not, which is exactly what Thoreau and Emerson were angry about.

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Let It Grow from The Lorax

Let it grow
Let it grow
Like it did so long ago
Maybe it's just one tiny seed
But it's all we really need
It's time to change the life we lead
Time to let it grow

This movie is so good. I rewatched it over MLK weekend, and I totally forgot how powerful this movie is. This song is all about how important trees are. Transcendentalists believe that one can transcend one's self in nature, and the lyric "maybe its one tiny seed, but its all we really need" takes on that view point. The people of Thneedville lived in a world with no nature at all, but with the power of love and a tree, 2 things transcendentals were very fond of, Ted and Audrey turn their town of greedy capitalists into a town of loving friends.

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Man in the Mirror by Michal Jackson

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
(If you want to make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
(Take a look at yourself, and then make a change)
(Na na na, na na na, na na, na nah)

This song is such a dingalinger. Michael Jackson sings about the importance of being your true self. You must start with your mind before you can work on other's. Transcendentals believe that one's mind is incredibly important and has the power to change the world, just like this song says. "take a look at yourself and make that change" is exactly what Emerson wrote about in Self-Reliance.

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This image of a large brain growing on a tree perfectly emulated the teachings of transcendentalism. The huge brain shows how important they believe the mind is and the tree shows how much they love nature. They are growing together because the world is an extension of the mind. All living things are equal, so why wouldn't a tree just actually be one big brain. The trunk of the tree is acting as the brain stem which is the part of the brain that connects itself to the rest of the body. In the tree's case it is connecting the brain to the earth. It is connecting the tree to the earth, to all living things. I am trying to talk about the over-soul in a really pretentious way, ok.

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The Sistine Chapel is one of the most famous paintings in the world, but little known fact, the figure that represents God and the people and cloth around God are supposed to resemble the human brain. This image of God shaped like a brain touching Adam and giving him knowledge is yet another perfect visual of transcendentalism. Transcendentalists believe that everyone has the spark of God in them and that the brain is the most powerful thing one can use. In this painting God is literally the brain, giving humans knowledge. Its kind of perfect and I should get a 100 on this just for this one panel because its really good and I'm proud of it.

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This Calvin and Hobbes comic shows the transcendentals' belief in minimalism. All you need is a nice open field and your mind. Nobody needs money or power or material things according to transcendentals. Hobbes is content with what he has and that makes him happy. He doesn't need to wish for anything else, he has all that he needs right here.

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The Science of Happiness ep. 5 Why a Walk Works Wonders
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2UPcl6Dg3CyOeGCxCnMt64?si=aGnLNezfQ-WxNIODIyN20A
This episode of one of my favorite podcasts talks all about the importance of taking a walk in nature. They talk about how it can clear your head, help with your mental health, and many other good things. Transcendentalists knew the beauty and power of nature and this episode of the podcast talks about the science behind it. They talk about mindfulness and how important it is to take in the beauty of nature.

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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/science/climate-change-101-with-bill-nye-the-science/
This video article narrated by my lord and savior Bill Nye (full name Billiards Nitrogen) is an incredibly important and powerful piece on climate change. It is a very real and scary thing that Waldo and Henry David would have been staunchly against, as we all should be. Transcendentals love the earth, but the earth is currently being ruined by greenhouse gasses and the only reason it isn't being stopped is because the people who are making money off of the destruction of the earth are paying politicians to let them keep doing so. It is terrible and terrifying and it has to do with transcendentalism because all the transcendentalists were outspoken and wouldn't stand idly by while something problematic was going down, especially if that problem effected every single thing on earth.

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https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/what-is-positive-psychology-definition/
Emerson and Thoreau really did what they wanted to be happy. They didn't care what others thought of them, they just went along and existed for themselves and helped out others along the way (Like a game of Legend of Zelda). Positive psychology is all about focusing on the positives and doing things for yourself. It might seem selfish, but it is very healthy and Thoreau would have agreed.

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Life Explained in 27 Seconds
This 30 second video by Casey Neistat is all about living your life to the fullest. You have to run to get a head. You can't stand still or even walk, you have to hustle. In his case this might mean working hard, but from the transcendental view point this could mean to do what you love. Do what makes you happy and don't let anyone get in your way. If you love movie making then make movies, if you love grading paldlets for hours on end then grade padlets. Emerson and Thoreau believed that life is what you make of it, and this video is all about getting exactly what you want out of it, in the vaguest way possible. Suck out all the marrow of life.

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We live in a world with constant pressures in society, and being your true self gets harder and harder. To put this quote in a modern context, people everywhere are wearing and buying AirPods just to fit in. They don't do anything differently than 10 dollar headphones from target, but people shell out a few hundred dollars just to fit in. But alternatively, who is to say that the people who wear AirPods aren't being themselves? Thoreau emulated exactly what Emerson talked about, but his teachings resonated with him, so he took them on. Does this mean Thoreau wasn't being his true self because he was so similar to Emerson? No. So, similarly, maybe a lot of people just really like AirPods, and they don't wear them to fit in, they wear them because their music is an extension of who they are. At any rate, you do you boo ;)

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Happiness and being content was something that Emerson knew was very important. There is no need to waste time being angry when you could just be happy. Obviously this is much easier said than done, but by casting away your frustrations and focusing on the positives you can live a much happier life.

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This quote reminds me of man in the mirror because it is about starting with yourself. Transcendentals were all about the individual and this quote really shows that. It is also about peace, Thoreau was very proudly anti-war and was even put in jail because of it. When everyone is equal then there is no need for fighting.

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This quote by Emerson is a very pretentious way of saying actions speak louder than words. You should do what you say and say what you mean.

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In this old youtube dot com video of mine I talk about how much I love the snow. I really appreciate nature and the beauty of the world and snow. I pretty much just run around like a child, but I really love the snow, and it was a lot of fun to film. Transcendentals loved nature, and so do I.

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In this gif of me dressed up as JoJo Siwa I am showing the transcendental idea of not conforming. I wore clothes that are typically geared toward girls, but not only did I wear them, I rocked them. I don't care what other people think of me, I just do me and beat to my own freaking band. (yeah I have more than just a drummer, what are you gonna do about it?) I will never conform to really anything, honestly. Especially making good analyses, whoops.

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A Clear Midnight by Walt Whitman

THIS is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou
lovest best.
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

Whitman writes about a vague version of the minimalism that Emerson and Thoreau wrote about. He says he only has night, sleep, death, and the stars and he says he loves these best. He is content with the little that he has and doesn't need material things just like Emerson and Thoreau.