Emerson/Thoreau Experiment?
Choose one of the following:
Option 1: Take a break and find some solitude-turn off the cell phone, TV, ipod, etc... Get out in nature and actually listen to yourself think. Go to a natural setting where you won't be distracted by people or anything else. Think about some of the transcendental ideas that connect with you. How do they affect you? How can you do a better job of applying them to your life? Contemplate your life, the world, and the impact you want to make. Be honest in your evaluation and compare who you truly are to who you want to be. Essentially, I am asking you to evaluate your life under the umbrella of transcendentalism.
Option 2: If, like Thoreau, you're into pain and suffering, attempt to simplify your life by getting back to life's essential details. In other words, give up a possession or a few possessions that you regularly use and have significant value to you, but end up cluttering your time. Record the changes you made in your life. Be honest-did you cheat and use it occasionally or borrow from someone else? If so, what does that reveal about you? How do friends and family react to your decision to give these things up? Has it made your life any easier or is this possession really a necessity? Will you continue to limit your use of these things? What have you learned about yourself? Why did you choose to give up what you did?
Please include a connecting or revelant quotation from Emerson or Thoreau that connects with your chosen experiment. Complete your experiment and response by 2:30p.m. on Monday, December 14th.
Option 1: Take a break and find some solitude-turn off the cell phone, TV, ipod, etc... Get out in nature and actually listen to yourself think. Go to a natural setting where you won't be distracted by people or anything else. Think about some of the transcendental ideas that connect with you. How do they affect you? How can you do a better job of applying them to your life? Contemplate your life, the world, and the impact you want to make. Be honest in your evaluation and compare who you truly are to who you want to be. Essentially, I am asking you to evaluate your life under the umbrella of transcendentalism.
Option 2: If, like Thoreau, you're into pain and suffering, attempt to simplify your life by getting back to life's essential details. In other words, give up a possession or a few possessions that you regularly use and have significant value to you, but end up cluttering your time. Record the changes you made in your life. Be honest-did you cheat and use it occasionally or borrow from someone else? If so, what does that reveal about you? How do friends and family react to your decision to give these things up? Has it made your life any easier or is this possession really a necessity? Will you continue to limit your use of these things? What have you learned about yourself? Why did you choose to give up what you did?
Please include a connecting or revelant quotation from Emerson or Thoreau that connects with your chosen experiment. Complete your experiment and response by 2:30p.m. on Monday, December 14th.
posted by Greg T at Wednesday, December 09, 2009
25 Comments:
I did option 2, and I decided to turn off my cell phone for an entire day. At first, it felt weird not having it next to me an texting someone at all times, but as the day went on, it got easier and easier and I didn't even think about it anymore. I realized that it is so unnecessary and unhealthy to be so attached to something like a cell phone. I don't need to constantly be in conversation with someone, and it made me try new things and start reading or doing something else. My friends and family thought it was a great idea, and some of them even tried it themselves. I think I will continue to turn my phone off when it is not necessary to have it on, it's a great thing to do. I learned that I actually like the feeling of having my phone off, and that I may have thought that I needed it by my side at all times, but I really don't.
I went up skiing this weekend and I thought there would be no better time to get out in nature and contemplate the blog ideas. I felt the true feeling of nature with the cold breeze and the smell of the woods surrounding me. At first I began thinking about school, friends, winter break, and Call of Duty but as my mind relaxed, my thoughts started to wander. Looking at the stars I began to contemplate what I do so often. How significant is Earth compared to the universe? How significant am I to the world? It's truly mind-boggling to think about these things in relation to what lies beyond our atmosphere. I feel people aren't as special as they think but rather are just another spec of dust in the universe. Thinking like this makes motivation to do anything a challenge but the way I look at life is to just get the best out of it. If you enjoy slacking and just getting by then go ahead and if you want to become successful then that's great as well.
One of my main goals in life, that I struggle upholding now, is to be a good person. I'm talking about making good choices, staying healthy and balancing my time well. I just lack the motivation but I believe it's something I can work on.
On Saturday the 12th of December I preformed an experiment. I took a gap of time out of my day to leave myself with nothing. No computer, no TV, no iPod, and no cell phone. I simply went outside and took a moment to be with nature. When I sat down and realized what was actually going on it blew my mind away. I never thought I could leave all my material possessions and just have a wonderful moment to myself. During this enchanting moment I was able to focus souly on my thoughts, my life, and what my purpose was being here today. I was able to relive myself of stress and any other problems that I was facing at the time. I threw everything to the side and told myself that you need to focus on what’s ahead of you and not on the past. I thought this quote by Emerson portrays that very well:"Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old." Whenever I need to get over something I will remember this quote and apply it to my life. It helps me get through the tasks at hand, and how I will prepare myself of later struggles that are to approach me. It seems to me that we always let our possessions get in the way of what we are trying to achieve and we need to stand up and push them aside and go for what we want. With dedication, heart, and God anything is achievable; you just have to put your mind of matter and shoot for it. I leave with this quote from Wanye Gretzky; "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take"
Today, I took a period of time from my day and I did not use my cell phone or my ipod and i sat outside and listened to nature and the sounds of it and reflected on my life. This was not as much of a challenge as I thought it would be. It was actually quite relaxing. I found it very peaceful and revealing. When you take away the outisde technologies that affect your life every day, it seems that one can focus much easier and clearly think about things. I personally thought of how I take addvantage of the luxuries that I have in my daily life. I take advantage of technologies, friendships, and essentials that I have every day. I thought of the ways that I can more appreciate these people and luxuries that I have in my life. Spending this alone time in nature also made me think of how I can be a better person and how I can be more friendly to people and live life to the fullest. Life is short and I know I will regret it if I do not live life to the fullest. The last thing that I noticed is that although I thought that I would feel alone without all of my distractions, I did not feel alone. In fact I felt less alone then I ever have in my life. Just sitting and thinking allowed my thoughts to really just be heard by myself. I had been so busy with life that I was not really listening to them. But it is like Emerson says "I am not solitary while I read and write, thought nobody is with me." Although I was 'alone', I really was not because I was with my thoughts and they really were heard through being alone.
Jordan Lawler
I decided to try option one for this blog. Although it was cold I went outside and sat on a bench in my backyard, closed my eyes, and let my thoughts fly. One of the things that I think about alot is why humans behave the way they do. What makes us think bad words are bad? Why is it necessary for us to be violent, why why why. Instead of coming to a conclusion, I always come to the idea that it really does not matter. Whether you are open and kind to others, or unsympathetic and close-minded, its your decision and that is what is important. My reasoning for this, and what I realized while sitting in my backyard is what is real outside of ourselves? How can we be certain that what we perceive is not completely and totally false, a figment of someone else's imagination? For me with this conclusion, what is important is you and doing what you feel is right, for what else is real? I also thought and regularly think about the meaning of a human beings life. If we are as i believe a group of cells working together to achieve a common goal of surviving, the meaning of life becomes trivial. There is no ultimate resting place, no contemplating without result about life, the main goal becomes living period, for that is our top priority. After swirling this philosophy around in my head for a couple weeks, and coming to my eureka moment outside on my porch, possibilities for my life came bursting out. What let me make this final revelation was my third thought on human life, that when put together with the other two is the last piece of my mental puzzle. I believe that the second want in human life behind being alive, is achieving some level of happiness of contentness. When I applied these three things to my life I realized I have been making some fundamental mistakes in my living. Stresses in my life up to this point; peer pressure, school, parents, in a blink of an eye became irrelevant. What is important is doing what i need for me, not others. If caring for others is what i need then so be it, and vise versa.
My last point is that everyone needs there own personal philosophy. While this is my take on life, it would be extremely unwise for one to follow my footsteps unless they 100% agree with it. Take a minute to truly think about what you believe in, and try to formulate a personal set of ideas to keep in the back of your mind.
I chose option 2, and decided to not watch TV for a whole day. It wasn’t that hard to be away from the TV for a whole day. After awhile you don’t even notice it. I was also way too busy to watch TV. I had practice from 7:10 am to 9:30 am and then I came home and slept. At 4:00 pm I had a dinner then I went to the USA vs. Canada Women’s hockey game. I didn’t stress over not having TV like I thought I would. There are plenty of other more productive things to do, that are a lot more fun.
For my experiment, I chose to try option 2. I tried to give up facebook over the weekend. I did end up cheating because I went on it twice this weekend. I think this shows that I don't have very much self control and I have a hard time giving up things that I normally do, even things that I wouldn't think would be hard to give up. I never thought that I could be so attached to something that isn't even tangible. My friends and family didn't really know about my choice to give up facebook, especially since I cheated on my experiment. In my opinion facebook is not really a necessity but it is just a way to get away from some things that could be bothering me. I don't think I will stop using facebook because I think I am to addicted to it. I couldn't really just stop using it because I don't have the self control. I chose to give up facebook because I didn't think it would be very hard to do, but I was obviously wrong. I have learned that in order to be able to do something that is challenging, I need to have a lot of self control.
I really wanted to see exactly what Emerson was talking about. Because of DECA I saw my phone a little less on Friday, but that is as far as getting away from electronics as I got, however I still wanted to become that invisible eyeball. I managed to discover what Emerson meant a couple of times, in an unlikely spot. Red lights,where I always hate to be. They just slow down my day, of course, that's what I needed. And when not staring at the glowing red circle in front of me, I decided to look around. Even in the simplist of locations you can find beauty. Trees sprinkled with snow, the mountains in all their glory undernieth an early winter sunset. Life stoped, but I realized truly how much this world has to offer. I love my car, and green lights and all the amazing technology that our hands and minds have brought us, but the gift from God is still the most amazing part of life.
I decided to attempt option two over the weekend. My main goal was to just get away from any music. Ipod, radio, everything. I'm one of those people who are almost constantly listening to music. For me, it acts as a getaway. Sometimes, it helps me escape from the troubles in my life. I found myself having a really diffacult time trying to stay away from these things. But I realizd something; we don't NEED these things. Yes, they are desires, but we do not NEED them. There are numbers of deaf people in this world that live day by day without their Ipod and new Family Guy episode. So why do some of us take the things that the beauty of life already hands us? Taking the time to just look around, felt refreshing, and I feel a lot more thankful for the desires I do have, and the needs that my family supply for me.
Yesterday I was listening to music passing some time until my friend makes his way over here. And then I thought about this blog response. This would be a great time to gather my thoughts without the music influencing them. I closed my eyes and just sat there thinking about my day and as the minutes passed on I thought about school, then finals, then studying, and in that same period of time I thought about the way I usually handle school. I become sluggish and extremely bored, which is very sad I that I confirmed that. Then after that I remembered a meeting I had with Mr. Trotter I recalled that he said the way to better myself academically is to advocate myself in my work. If I were to realize school isn't going to last forever sooner I believe I could have taken it more seriously done and better with my work. Because I'm now a junior and there is only one and a half years until I'm out it is time to mature at least a little more.
putting ones self in solitude is really the best way for one to discover their true self. I went out into nature and as option one said, turned off all electronics and just zoned out and began to think about life. i began to wonder off and ask myself why do i do everything i do? is it because this is what i have been told to do my entire life? if everyone does exactly what they are told to do then why do we not have peace amongst this world? people do not follow guidelines because guidelines take away ones individualism and when your individualism is gone then we all might as well be blobs in a crowd. when you go into complete solitude it is amazing what you yourself can discover about your own thoughts and feelings, i thought it was pretty trippy
Over the weekend I gave up xbox as part of the experiment for option 2. I decided that since I like it and play it pretty regularly giving it up seemed a good idea, even though it was a weekend. It proved difficult, but still went ok. I think I was definitely a little bit more cranky however it's better for me in the long run. My parents weren't that surprised, I don't spend too much time on it anymore, but they were slightly put off. I don't think I can continue to put it off because just relaxing playing a video game is a lot of fun, despite what it can do. I think I could handle not having them for a little while, but not too long. I think it's just kind of what defines our generation in a way. That's why I gave it up, so many of us play them to escape the real world for a while that I wanted to try to have a nice weekend without games. I think I was fairly successful too.
I went christmas tree hunting this weekend so i decided it would a perfect time to preform option 1. Some of the ideas i thoght about was how the world got the way it is, and how it opens itself up to allow us to take its contents. After awhile i went off by myself to look, and i found a giant flat where no one had come across, there were so many giant trees that were perfect, most people would have stayed on the outide looking for more simple ways to get there tree but it just shows if you venture further there is always more to experience and see. i think thats what walden was talking about when he was explaining how if man only saw the stars once in his life he'd be more inspired by it than seeing them everynight like we do.
I did option 2. I chose to give up T.V for the day. It was difficult not knowing what was going on in the world. That day I had friends ask me if I heard on the news what has happened abot certin stuff and it tempted me to want to turn on the T.V and see what was going on. At the end of the day I found that it was simple request because i wasnt worring about other peoples drama. With the T.V off it pushed me to do more with my life, go outside and hangout and just have fun. It kind of seems that having the t.v on all the time is a waste of our time, and even life. It made me realize that there is so much more that life offers. We just need to take those risk and enjoy life as much as we can. Live life to the fullest and take chances and have no regrets!
I choose to do option 2 and give up my cell phone for a period of time. I did cheat 2 times and used my friends phone to text people. It reveals that it is very hard for me to give up my phone because it is almost a necessity to me. My friend thought i was crazy when i said i couldnt use my phone for this period of time; my family on the other hand thought that it was a genious idea. It made my life a lot harder because if i needed to contact my parents/ friends, i couldnt do so without ruining the experiment; but it isnt a real necessity. I doubt that i will ever give up my phone for a period of time again but it might happen. I learned that giving up my phone was very difficult for me, and technology makes your life a lot easier. I choose to give up my phone because i use it all day, and wanted to see what would happen.
I choose option 2, and i chose to stay off facebook for a whole day. I am the kind of person that always needs to know what is going on with my friends and at school. So to stay off facebook was a challenge for me, because that is how i stay connected. At first it was extremely difficult to resist the temptation. For example I usually go on facebook when I am not doing anything or when I am using the computer for school. On Saturday I did not do much so it made it even harder to not log on and see what the new drama was. So I tried to occupy myself by studying not near a computer or reading or just hanging out with the family. After a while I forgot about the urge to go on facebook, because I was having enough fun doing the other activities. By the end of the day I facebook had completely left my mind and I no long felt the need to log on. This experience mad me think in a whole new perspective. I don't need to be on facebook everyday, their is a high chance that I am not missing anything to important, and that going one day is not going to kill me. Over all I learned that if you turn of the material items in your life, your life can become much less stressful and more relaxed.
I did option 2. On Saturday, December 12 I chose to turn off my phone. I chose my phone because it is something that never leaves my sight and I am constantly using. I only lasted four hours when I cheated. I was disappointed in myself that my phone has become such an addiction that I cannot even go a day without it. I think this shows that I am constantly socializing with others and without a device to do that, I would be completely lost. I didn't tell anyone that I was giving it up but it would probably be no surprise that I didn't last long without it. I don't think a cell phone is a necessity at all and it is quite sad that our society today has to use such a device to communicate instead of verbally. By doing this experiment, I became aware of how bad my addiction is. It made me realize that I need to reduce my amount of time talking on the phone or texting.
I chose option 1 because after a long day of school and every little thing that has happened to you weather is good or bad, you want to get out of all the world technology, so i just leave all my staffs inside the house and go for a walk with my soccer ball. After a few minutes i realize how beautiful is to be out there with out any worries or preoccupations form the world, it makes you feel that every single person in the world doesn't have any thing to do.
I felt a big empty void in my heart when I removed myself from technology for an hour. I thought about taking a nap, but then I realized I can only nap when I fall asleep while watching TV. Then I decided it would be a good idea to study, but all of my study tools are located on the computer. After about 15 minutes of contemplating I made myself some food, forgetting that a microwave is technology, and then I had an epiphany. There is a reason that trillions of dollars go to research and development, and there is a reason that some of the most respected and prestigious men and women are inventors. This is because the thing that is truly innate to humans is not nature or separating yourself from society, it is our desire to expand our horizons and push our boundaries. For thousands of years humans have tried to make their lives easier by developing new technologies, so to me it seems that this will to invent and engineer is more basic to humans than sitting by a stream. By no means am I trying to discredit Emerson and Thoreau because they did have valid points, but I think human ingenuity should be utilized, not stifled.
As I began to surround myself with nature and truly delve into my being and ask questions on morals or questions in general that normally are not given much thought. This processes normally begins with a solid forty minutes of space out time which I have made possible almost accidentally because I seem to find myself sitting in my room looking at my TV, however with no intention at all to turn it on. Rather for a certain amount of time I just simply sit spacing out, thinking, meditating, relaxing, whatever you want to call it, but there is no technology being used or outside influences being pressed upon me. I may not be in “nature”, yet my mind seems to log off and relax to answer insignificant questions such as to why a person may have said or acted in a certain why earlier that day, to give some meaning to WHY a person may act that way.
As I read through some of the other students bogs my epiphany came from the realization that most people, when they went into their “deep nature thoughts”, came up with questions or WHY’s. The question I came up with is why did most of the people who blogged feel the need to create a why question and then try to answer their own why? My answer is on the other hand quite simple. “I don’t know.” But, if I had to take a guess I would assume as Jordan said, “we are as I believe a group of cells working together to achieve a common goal of surviving,” and “human life behind being alive, is achieving some level of happiness of contentness.” These two quotes may answer my question because maybe the only reason humans create and answer questions, is to achieve their own level of happiness by finding the answer, whether correct or not, by filling the void in the brain that makes us ask WHY.
For this blog i did option 2. Sunday i turned my phone off and gave it to my dad to keep for the day. It was harder then what i thought not being able to have my phone. At first all i wanted to do was sneak in and just check my phone but i soon gave up and tried to stop worrying about it. As the day went on it started to get easier and i started doing more stuff. I think it is unreal how dependent i was on just a phone. I don't think it is very healthy to be attached to something that means nothing. I think a lot of my time and thinking is about the people in the outside. Should i text this person or did they get my text. I didn't realize how much stress my phone caused me until it was gone for the whole day. I felt like i was free to think and there was a weight lifted off my shoulders from having to check my phone every few minutes.
I did option 1 because I actually find myself contemplating life often. Most nights before I go to bed I sit and think about the world, and how strange it is. I have slowly created this thought that I don't believe in things unless I see them, or in a religious point feel them. I don't know if I like this thought I created but it allows me to expand my horizons and explore with a huge imagination. I have always been a nature person and love to be outside by myself with the world. I sat this past weekend in a creek area near my house. Although the water was frozen, my thoughts cam running out like a waterfall. I have always thought about how we basically live to die but what we do with the days in between are what make life worth living or not. I also was thinking about the Mayan calendar and how the world is suppose to end in 2012. If this is possibly the truth, what are we doing going to school and working for money? We should be doing everything we ever have dreamed about. Exploring the nature of the world and how much it actually speaks to you. We all go through hardships in life, and I am glad to say I have found my escape, nature, writing and soccer. Sometimes I wish that cell phones, TVs, ipods etc.. were not invented. I am proud to say these days, I don't have an ipod but can say I find it kind of hard to leave my phone. I could live without TV, but not the computer. If these were never in my life I strongly believe that I would have saved years of my life wasted on them, but I would have learned more about life with personal experience. Off of what I have said, this quote sums it up in a few sentences: "Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman.
I often find myself participating in the situation described by option one. Nature truly is exotic and wonderful. Comtemplating about the origin of such wonder will get my mind wandering for somtimes hours at a time. Sometimes on random tangents, the history of humans and aminals comes to mind. How did they could eat, where to go and many other relavent questions. In a way, nature guilded people and animals to their destinations. I find the impact on everything else very fascinating.
Looking through my life under a transcendental scope, it can be hard to strive specifically to that direction. Under the constant pressure of our modern society, taking one's time to admire what has always been there does not take priority. Although very important, people do not put the Earth in front of their busy schedules or problems. However; the Earth is the home to over six billion people and unless the destruction caused by us humans ceases, we will eventually be looking for a new place to guide our thoughts.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I chose to give up all electronics for this whole week. The first few hours were the hardest. It was like my instinct was to just give up and completely lie to complete this blog. However, with a little more thought I persevered and did not flip on the TV or use my cell phone. After the week started the distractions that technology present were completely absent. I was able to focus on my studies and complete this assignment at the same time. A week without electronics would have seemed completely ridiculous to me a week ago. I cannot say I was perfect, however... on Wednesday my favorite soccer team, Arsenal was playing. I could not thwart my urge to watch the television after a long day of tests. At the end of this experiment I feel a deep regret of not finishing the competition without a blemished record, but there is a great sense of accomplishment. This experiment showed me that there is more to life then just electronics. It also many distractions I face during my life, and my focus level was much higher without technology.
Post a Comment
<< Home