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"That man who does not believe that each day contains an earlier, more sacred, and auroral hour than he has yet profaned, has despaired of life, and is pursuing a descending and darkening way." - Henry David Thoreau

This image represents the sense of freedom and peace referenced in the quote, because unless one embraces and returns to simplicity through nature, a person will never feel truly free, but stuck within the constraints of society, meaning that they will never truly transend.

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“In my walks I would fain return to my senses. What business have I in the woods, if I am thinking of something out of the woods?”

By using nature to escape from issues occurring in society, Thoreau emphasizes that walking is a perfect way to embrace Transcendentalism while explaining the mental benefits of taking walks serve to return to simplicity in life, even if it is just for the duration of the walk. In the image, the man is simply walking, only focusing on what is in the field, not the other things that occur outside of it.

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“The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other”

Emphasizing the importance of true and full harmony within a person, Emerson explained how, among society, people are unable to appreciate nature because of the lack of simplicity in society, as well as the complexities of life. The image expresses this, as the man is surrounded by simple beauties, but only looks ahead because he is hyper-fixated on the mountain in the image.

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"Nothing divine dies. All good is eternally reproductive. The beauty of nature reforms itself in the mind, and not for barren contemplation, but for new creation”

This quote emphasized Emerson's belief that beauty is not just superficial, but transformative in a person’s internal mind.  The above image represents the appreciation that one must feel towards nature and its eternal beauty, rather than just walking past the beauty as many do every day.

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“it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude”

The quote emphasizes that, in order to transcend, one must not conform to the interests of society. The image expresses this belief because the man leaves society, which just stands, relying on himself to live his own, fulfilled life.

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The poem "O Me! O Life!" by Walt Whitman expresses the tenets of Transcendentalism it places emphasis on the individual by using the first-person perspective. The speaker contemplates their own existence and its significance in the world, as he feels small among everything. Additionally, the belief that nature was a source of spiritual insight and inspiration was large in Transcendentalism, and Whitman reflects on "the powerful play of life," an acknowledgment of the profound connection between humans and the natural world. The image expresses this because, as the woman walks around her deserted community, she realizes how small she is in a big, messed up world, but is determined to help.

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"I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way"

Mr. Keating's students honored him by looking at everything from a different perspective at the end of the movie, showing him how much he had taught them about life and challenging Wilton's traditional point of view that encourages conformity and lacks a sense of self-expression.

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I, Rosie Mikha, in the spirit of transcendentalism, recognize that I am a unique individual among a large and conformant society and that I must always go against these standards. I will value my family over my work, not working to a point where I must neglect those who I love. I am authentic, and will always express my truth, whether it is agreed with or not, fighting for what is right if I believe it is. I will appreciate everything, from the gifts I am given to the gifts of the world and nature. I will seek the truth, now and forever, and live my life as best I can.

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In a world where paths converge and blend,
I found myself at a societal bend,
Two choices lay before me, dark and light,
One dictated by norms, the other, a fight.
One is the struggle of fitting in,
to the cookie-cutter structure that commits no sin.
The other is free, but at what cost,
what will they think if I am no longer lost.
And if I follow them, I must stay under my hood,
Because what will happen if I don't do good.

The well-trodden road, where all are confined,
To expectations, judgments, and the daily grind,
But deep within, a longing to be free,
To break the chains of conformity.
I quiver and shake as I stand on the path.
What will they think of me if I can't do the math?
What will they do when I don't know the answer?
Will they like me, or treat me as a cancer?
That's all I am, the one who knows,
But what would happen once the truth shows?

The other path, uncharted and unknown,
A journey where my true self could be shown,
Yet fear and doubt, like shadows in the night,
Kept me on the road, where everything seemed right.
For in this world, with standards firmly set,
I yearn to break free, to never forget,
That the road less taken may lead to my dreams,
And shatter the chains of society's schemes.
But is it worth it to really break free,
Or should I stay stuck in this endless sea?

But slowly I inch toward the unknown path,
Will I have to face society's wrath?
Or will the weight on my back be released,
as the world stops expecting everything from me.
I'll enjoy my life, simple and plain,
Without having to deal with internal pain.

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If everybody were poor
We would all be rich
If everybody up on this Earth were poor
We would all be rich
If I had no work I would enjoy life
I would put my family first
I would spend some time with my baby
I would love them more and more
If I was poor
I'd cut down trees to build my roof, I'd
Hunt in the forest
Get my fish from the ocean
Yeah, and we would live like the king and the queen
And we would have a little princess or prince
We would never have felt more free oh yo

The song emphasizes how societal standards of hard work over all else keep families separated because of the long hours that one is expected to work in order to provide for their family. The image emphasizes this as well as the father and son spend time together, as the father presumably ignores his work in order to have a good relationship with his son.

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This hashtag emphasizes how important it is for all people to break free from societal pressures, letting your soul roam free and happy rather than keeping it constrained.

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In the photo, I am appreciating the nature around me, the trees, the river, and all things off screen that have been given as a gift to humanity and must be appreciated.

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Changing the scenery around me, I went outside and read a book, feeling the wind and the breeze around me, rather than just the comfort of my bed, to appreciate the world we live in.

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Looking at natures everlasting beauty, I realized how eternal it was, lasting, though by a thread, the evil treatment that it endures because of humanity's inability to appreciate nature.

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8 - Challenges to living a Transcendentalist life

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8 - Challenges to living a Transcendentalist life

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The largest challenge to transcendentalism in modern-day society is the expansion of technology. In the image, the men sit on their phones, ignoring the beauty of nature that surrounds them because of their focus on the technology in front of them.

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9 - How does transcendentalism help people grow through nature to become self-reliant individuals in order to use that to contribute to society. 

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9 - How does transcendentalism help people grow through nature to become self-reliant individuals in order to use that to contribute to society. 

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Thesis: Transcendentalism teaches people to model themselves after nature in order to become self-reliant individuals who, in turn, are able to fully and positively contribute to society through the emphasis that is placed on the importance of a return to simplicity in life.
1. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”(Thoreau, 1854)
2. “The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows” (Emerson, 1844).
3. "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, — that is genius."(Emerson, 1841).
4. “it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson, 1841).
5. “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist” (Emerson, 1841).
6. “Civil Disobedience”, in which he composed a series of essays that condemn the government throughout the writing, he emphasizes that all must “Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine”(Thoreau, 1849).

In the image, the man embraces simplicity through his approach to nature, where he just stops to reflect alone, not fleeing to society, but to nature, for answers to his questions.