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This picture shows the importance of being one with nature. Transcendentalists believe that humans must be considered life together, not as two separate entities.

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“I swear the earth shall surely be complete to him or her who shall be complete,
The earth remains jagged and broken only to him or her who remains jagged and broken.”
― Walt Whitman

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My first quote is one from Walt Whitman and it expresses transcendental ideas because it is saying to use what you have and to make the best of your life. It focuses on simplicity, and being happy about the simple things.

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This poem by Shel Silverstein emphasizes that transcendentalists believe in civil disobedience. Transcendentalists use civil disobedience as a way of expressing what they feel is right and wrong, which this poem shows and encourages people to do.

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Minecraft is a video game in which the player starts with nothing and must try to survive. Although transcendental values have nothing to do with monsters, they do have everything to do with surviving off of the land and being self-sufficient, which are both perfectly expressed in this game.

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"Gone" by Jack Johnson
Look at all those fancy clothes
But these could keep us warm just like those
And what about your soul? Is it cold?
Is it straight from the mold, and ready to be sold?

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Gone Lyrics: Look at all those fancy clothes / But these could keep us warm just like those / And what about your soul? Is it cold? / Is it straight from the mold, and ready to be sold? / And

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In this part of the song “Gone” by Jack Johnson, he basically says that people should be more practical and less flashy for no reason. His song aligns with the transcendental theme of simplicity.

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"Intuition" by John Lennon
Well my instincts are fine
I had to learn to use them in order to survive
And time after time confirmed an old suspicion
It's good to be alive
And when I'm deep down and out and lose communication
With nothing left to say
It's then I realize it's only a condition
Of seeing things that way

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Intuition Lyrics: My intentions are good, I use my intuition / It takes me for a ride / But I never understood other people's superstition / It seemed like suicide / And as I play the game of life

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"Intuition" by John Lennon is a song about how sometimes you must think past your instinct in order to see things in a different way. This relates to Transcendentalism because it is a different way of thinking all together

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Caption: "Learning is just experience. Everything else is just information." This image and caption describe the transcendental idea that knowledge comes from experiences which you discover yourself, while learning from books is information, instead of knowledge.

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In this TEDx Talk from Maura Malloy in Indianapolis, she talks about her experiences in which she describes her past life as being cluttered and full of possessions, until she decided that she doesn't need all of those possessions after traveling to India and seeing many children playing without all the toys  American kids have.

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"Fighter" by Christina Aguilera
So I want to say thank you, 'cause it
Makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

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Fighter Lyrics: After all that you put me through / You think I'd despise you / But in the end, I want to thank you / 'Cause you've made me that much stronger / Well, I thought I knew you, thinkin

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Maura Malloy said "I became a minimalist when my passions and my goals became more important than my possessions. " This is very good quote for showing transcendental ideas of simplicity.

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The masterpiece of a simple life | Maura Malloy | TEDxIndianapolis

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"Fighter" by Christina Aguilera is an example of music with transcendental values because it describes a girl who has just been broke up with and has learned to be more self-reliant. This shows elements of Transcendentalism because self-reliance is a major theme in Transcendentalism.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Please enable Javascript This site requires Javascript be enabled to provide you the best experience. Some features may not be available with Javascript disabled! Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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My second quote is transcendental because it is encouraging people to make a new path to show people new ways to do anything, which is basically saying "think differently."

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The couple is among a growing number of Nashville-area residents homesteading or experimenting with the lifestyle. They grow their own produce, make their own bread, gather eggs from their chickens and pollinate and protect their crops with bees and other insects instead of relying on herbicides and pesticides. It’s part of a larger shift to sustainable living, fueled by a desire to eat natural, chemical-free foods, to live frugally and to return to a simpler life.

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CLOSE

In Leigh and Olin Funderburk's farmhouse kitchen, rows of tomato jars line the cabinets and the smell of homemade bread just pulled from the oven fills the room. Outside, sunflowers grow near blackberry bushes and a hen house. Come spring, the Funderburks will begin planting vegetables in their garden, along with several other area residents renting garden plots, that will fill their plates throughout the year.

The couple is among a growing number of Nashville-area residents homesteading or experimenting with the lifestyle. They grow their own produce, make their own bread, gather eggs from their chickens and pollinate and protect their crops with bees and other insects instead of relying on herbicides and pesticides. It's part of a larger shift to sustainable living, fueled by a desire to eat natural, chemical-free foods, to live frugally and to return to a simpler life.

"There's a huge, growing interest," Leigh Funderburk said. "People want to know where their food comes from. People want to go back to being self-sufficient so they can control the cost of their groceries, control their living expenses, and they want to be empowered."

Demand for Nashville chicken permits has more than doubled in recent years, with 323 permits issued in the year through December, compared to 145 in 2013, according to the Metro Public Health Department. In Tennessee, the number of residents keeping bees has quadrupled to about 4,000 in the past decade, an increase driven largely by a declining bee population and the need for more pollination as more people seek to grow their produce, according to Tennessee Apiarist Mike Studer.

Funderburk, who worked in corporate sales until 2013, gauges the growing interest based on the local enthusiasm for workshops she hosts in her home - regular courses on topics ranging from cooking with plant-based foods to canning to bread making - and on the number of garden plots she and Olin rent out to others on their 15-acre Stoney Creek Farm. In 2009, three people rented plots, compared to about 17 to 20 today. Olin Funderburk was able to retire from his construction business and now works as a consultant helping clients develop sustainable gardens and operations on their own properties.

"It's about helping people learn how to be self-sufficient and where their food comes from," Leigh Funderburk said. "We have families that come out here during the summer and the kids have never picked a green bean or a tomato. They are just not exposed to that."

Many of those the Funderburks work with are younger couples with young kids, often with one parent who wishes to quit working and learn to live more simply. Some have started their own small businesses, Olin Funderburk said, describing a woman who sells fresh-cut flowers she grows, another who sells eggs laid on her farm and a third who opened a berry-picking farm as another source of income.

"Our lifestyle allows us to live simply," Leigh Funderburk said. "I can all my vegetables so we eat out of the freezer all year ... It's a lot less expensive overall than to buy from the grocery store."

Keith White, who lives in a Cool Springs condominium, began growing vegetables at Stoney Creek Farm years ago after he was diagnosed with cancer and became more focused on nutrition. He first subscribed to a Community Supported Agriculture market, or CSA, for homegrown produce but he realized he wanted to be growing vegetables himself, as he had done as a child growing up on a farm in Macon County - only this time without pesticides.

"I didn't have a place to grow my own garden, but I missed working in the soil and having my own garden," White said. "If you ever grew up doing it, it's kind of in your blood."

In the spring, summer and fall, White visits his 10- by 20-foot garden plot once or twice a week, tending his carrots, tomatoes, greens, peppers, cucumbers and radishes, and in the winter, he grows lettuce inside his home. He still buys other produce at the grocery store, but finds he saves significantly on food, even with the price of the garden rental.

White and Leigh Funderburk both grew up on farms, but many of those turning to homesteading have no background in it. Kelly Albright, who sells eggs, chicken and ducks from her farm near Whites Creek, began to read books about farming when her son was born. Her husband was returning to school and with just one income stream, the organic produce and hormone-free meat she had hoped to feed her family became too expensive.

"What was important to us was that our kids eat healthy food," Albright, an accountant, said.

They began with broilers, chicken raised for their meat, after Albright met a friend at a Clarksville farmers market who offered to help butcher them. Once on their Nashville farm about six years ago, Albright bought a dairy cow, added laying chickens and pigs and planted a vegetable garden. Her husband, she said, thought she was "completely crazy," that the homesteading was a passing phase. But they have since transformed their self-sustaining operations into a small, profitable business. Albright says her motivation is the lifestyle and nutrition more than the additional income.

"I wanted my kids to experience where their food comes from, I wanted them to grow up doing chores," she said. "I know they have pride in what we do and the food that we eat."

Each of her two kids, age 9 and 11, have jobs on the farm and Albright says she wakes at 5:30 a.m. to tend to the animals before going to work. Springs and summers are busy but during the rest of the year, the pace slows.

Albright said several neighbors have begun milking cows or goats or raising chickens in recent years, and she has helped some of them get started.

"It is so rewarding," she said. "It's really cool. I think when people see what's possible then their minds expand to, 'I don't have to do exactly what she does, but I can do something that fits my life.'"
Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.
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A return to a simpler, healthier way of life: Homesteading expands in Nashville area

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CLOSE In Leigh and Olin Funderburk's farmhouse kitchen, rows of tomato jars line the cabinets and the smell of homemade bread just pulled from the oven fills the room. Outside, sunflowers grow near blackberry bushes and a hen house.

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The Tennessee couple Leigh and Olin Funderburk are living a lifestyle very similar to the which Henry David Thoreau lived in Walden Pond. This lifestyle is one which is very simple and self-reliant. The couple grow all of their own food and make much of the items they use daily.

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"If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare." - Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes from BrainyQuote.com

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"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence."
-Henry David Thoreau

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"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence." - Henry David Thoreau quotes from BrainyQuote.com

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This quote from Emerson is basically saying that people take many things for granted simply because it is always there. I believe this applies to modern day in the form of having the privilege of living in a country with luxuries like sanitation systems, running water, and peace.

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This episode of the Simplify podcast talks about how to "get what you want" or stand up for your beliefs and stop being a people-pleaser. This reflects Thoreau's beliefs of non-conformity because, in the play, he said that it is impossible to please everyone and still show that you have strong feelings about something.

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Podcast: "Simplify"
Episode: Sarah Knight: Care Less, Get More.
In this episode of Simplify, Caitlin talks to bestselling author and self-help “anti-guru,” Sarah Knight, about how to stop people-pleasing and get what you want.

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Simplify is a podcast for anyone who's taken a close look at their habits, their happiness, their relationships, or their health and thought, "There's got to be a better way to do this." Hear ideas that get you to better from Gretchen Rubin, David Allen, Rebecca Traister, Dan Savage, Seth Godin and many more.

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Thoreau is saying that as long as you enjoy and truly believe in what you are doing, you can make a path or a career out of it.

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An opposition politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has called on his millions of followers to conduct a peaceful campaign of civil disobedience following the rejection of his appeal against election results by the country’s highest court. Martin Fayulu said he considered himself the “sole legitimate president-elect” of the country and urged the Congolese people not to recognise “any individual who would claim this authority illegally”.

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DRC opposition urges civil disobedience after election appeal rejected

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Leaked data appears to indicate the defeated Martin Fayulu actually won with about 60% of votes

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This image shows non-conformity by having the one black sheep. This is clearly transcendental because it shows how the one black sheep stands out which encourages people to act in different ways so that they stand out.

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This Congolese politician has called for the Congolese people in his favor to use acts of civil disobedience to stand up against the corruption in the government. This shows transcendental values because many Transcendentalists, most notably Henry David Thoreau, used civil disobedience to stand up for beliefs.

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Happy People is a documentary which follows people living in the wilderness of Russia. It is a reminder to all of us how little people need to live life in joy, which is a transcendental idea because Transcendentalists believe in simplicity and living with as few things as possible.

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Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010)

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Directed by Werner Herzog, Dmitry Vasyukov. With Werner Herzog, Nikolay Nikiforovitch Siniaev, Gennady Soloviev, Anatoly Tarkovsky. A documentary depicting the life and work of the trappers of Bakhtia, a village in the heart of the Siberian Taiga, where daily life has changed little in over a century.