Transcendentalist Project by ABDURAHMAN ADAWE

1A: Quote - "Where I Lived and What I Lived For"

369693_2 — 2024-10-17 02:23:10 UTC

"Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten toes, and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail. In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds. Simplify, simplify."

- Henry David Thoreau

As Thoreau asserts that living with simplicity is best, he emphasizes the transcendentalist principle of living a simple live with true value, instead of a bundle of lines, like the image above represents.

1E: Quote - "Self-Reliance"

369693_2 — 2024-10-17 03:40:38 UTC

"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The lone tree amongst a vast field in a pond represents Emerson's ideas of individualism that's found through becoming a nonconformist, which is exemplified within the lone tree thriving within its solitude.

1B: Quote - "Walking"

369693_2 — 2024-10-17 03:52:54 UTC

"Our expeditions are but tours, and come round again at evening to the old hearthside from which we set out. Half the walk is but retracing our steps. We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance, in the spirit of undying adventure, never to return, prepared to send back our embalmed hearts only as relics to our desolate kingdoms. If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again—if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man—then you are ready for a walk."

- Henry David Thoreau

A beautiful, peaceful trail along a forest, one that's perfect for the "walks" that Thoreau alludes to, a forest of peace, beauty, and solitude, truly fit for a walk.

1C: Quote - "Nature"

369693_2 — 2024-10-17 18:07:12 UTC

"The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood. When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A lone man looking upon the stars, which Emerson asserts awakens a "certain reverence," in his own solitude and valuing such beauty while connecting with nature.

1D: Quote - "Beauty"

369693_2 — 2024-10-17 18:13:44 UTC

"There is no object so foul that intense light will not make beautiful. And the stimulus it affords to the sense, and a sort of infinitude which it hath, like space and time, make all matter gay. Even the corpse has its own beauty. But besides this general grace diffused over nature, almost all the individual forms are agreeable to the eye, as is proved by our endless imitations of some of them, as the acorn, the grape, the pine-cone, the wheat-ear, the egg, the wings and forms of most birds, the lion's claw, the serpent, the butterfly, sea-shells, flames, clouds, buds, leaves, and the forms of many trees, as the palm."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Beauty is in everything that is bound by the universe, everything has its own reverence and sublimeness to it, no matter how much it may differ from standards of "beauty."

2A: "O Me! O Life!"

369693_2 — 2024-10-18 06:12:41 UTC

Amongst every face in the crowd, no matter how different, no matter how beautiful, unique, or small, every visage within this world contributes a "verse." This "verse" in the "play" of life is a beautiful concept, as it represents humanity and the world as something each and every person plays a part in its revolution. The different people that Whitman mentions, the "sordid crowds" or the "faithless," no matter how they may differ or how dejected they may freely from humanity, they're still a part of this reverent play that every single human contributes to and bestows upon it a higher beauty and divine feature. We are all here, with our own identity and individual circumstances, but in the end, we all have life, and are all humans, and this fact unites us all.

2B: Dead Poet's Society

369693_2 — 2024-10-18 06:14:07 UTC

"But only in their dreams can men be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be."

- John Keating

Becoming a nonconformist to society's expectations and ideals, this is a tenet of transcendentalism, the reason this image exemplifies this tenet is because the students went against their schools rules and expectations of being respectful students in order show their respect and give their salutations to their teacher, Mr. Keating.

3: Declaration of Self

369693_2 — 2024-10-19 04:22:49 UTC

My declaration of self, or my “verse” and contribution to this world is to me, a half known topic that I’m exploring. What I do know for sure though, is that I want to be a person to rely on by my family and friends, the people that I love. I want to be strong for them, someone that can be helpful in their time of need and be someone reliable towards them, someone strong. I know not what comes for me in the future, but I’m hopeful that I can become a stronger person, the best version of myself so I can be a pioneer and set the tone for my family to follow in my footsteps and teach them what it means to be strong. I will become the foundations that hold a bridge up, more so, that's who I aspire to be.

4: Poem - A Fragment Of The Universe

369693_2 — 2024-10-19 05:38:11 UTC

Bound by this world, bound by its authority.

Bound by expectations and standards of beauty and intellect.

A false sense of life, given to us, fed to us, by this controlling authority named society.

A false sense of elation, of freedom, constantly berated by these illusions.

5. To be free, to be life, to become sublimeness itself, how does man achieve this?

Contempt, frustration, hate, for what one has become.

Remissness, to accept these chains like a dutiful dog, accepting your plight.

This rage grows, it grows until it cannot surpass its limits.

This fire, it awakens man's concealed potential, like a candle lighting a torch.

10. Cannot take anymore, to the point of enlightenment and awakening.

Becoming Cognizant, this realization, that everything and everyone is a particle.

Not just a particle, a particle of the universe, of the cosmos in its entirety.

With this realization, one can become truly beautiful, and sublime within the chambers of the mind.

Awaken this part and accept the fragment of the stars where each element flows through and thrives.

15. Your body, your soul, your fire, all light, like the luminosity of the stars, or a galaxy shining.

To be a fragment of the universe means to be free.

To live like the stars, rushing through space with absolute freedom.

To BE the universe, the cosmos, to be bound by no laws, no expectations, no rules.

To become a star, is to become an entity of life, of joy, of elation, of beauty.

20. Transcending, flying, flowing, like a star, leaving despair in the tracks of empty space. Am I dreaming?

4: Modern-Day Transcendentalism

369693_2 — 2024-10-20 02:54:29 UTC

"See, in a perfect world I'll choose faith over riches... I'll make schools out of prison"

- Kendrick Lamar

The goodness in man that's apparent in a perfect world is exemplified in the words of Kendrick, but of course, we don't live in a perfect world.

6: #EngrossedInNatureAndBeauty!

369693_2 — 2024-10-20 22:39:44 UTC

Connecting with nature and being engrossed within its beauty is something I love to do, and it strengthens my connection with the nature aspect of Transcendentalism!

7A: Immersed in Nature

369693_2 — 2024-10-20 23:05:36 UTC

Nature is beautiful, and I love being involved with it as it brings me peace throughout my day.

7B: Nature Walks With My Creature

369693_2 — 2024-10-20 23:05:41 UTC

The adventurous walks in nature with my dog, make me feel like my connection with nature is growing, and the experience becomes more exciting with my companion.

7C: Beauty In Nature's Trees and Mountains

369693_2 — 2024-10-20 23:05:46 UTC

Despite urbanization, nature still retains its beauty with its colossal mountains and thriving trees, looking upon this view allows me to further immerse myself with nature.

8: Challenges To Living Out The Tenets Of Transcendentalism

369693_2 — 2024-10-20 23:31:26 UTC

The destruction of nature and excess light filling our skies, each highlight humanity's connection with nature and transcendentalism dissipating. Each caused by urbanization.

9: Transcendentalism and Its Modern Echoes

369693_2 — 2024-10-21 01:59:38 UTC

In contemporary society, transcendentalism still thrives in humanity, whereas people focus on individualism, self-improvement, nature awareness movements, and working together in order to strengthen humanity’s link to each other.

"To be free, is the ability to embrace transcendentalism, which should be employed in shaping the future and all humanity that’s to come."

"Humanity will only continue to advance into the future, and with this, there is strong hope in the ability to change for the better, whether it be improving the rights of people, or saving nature from deterioration"