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Self-Reliance: An Essay
by
Alisha Morgan
"Imitation is
suicide..." (Page 267, Paragraph One). Ralph
Waldo Emerson could not have written truer
words. To me, it is important to be a
non-conformist because one can be oneself, without
outside influences.
Another important aspect of being a non-conformist
is that one can form one's own opinions without
other's impute. Most of all, being a non-conformist
means that one can be original, by looking at life
from a
different angle. Unorthodox peoples are some of the
most innovative persons one will ever meet. Why is
this? Because they are free to be who they want to
be and think what they choose to think without
swaying
toward conformed thinking.
"There is time in every man's education when he
arrives at the conviction...that he must take
himself for
better, for worse, as his portion..." (Page 267, Paragraph One). Dissenters take phrases, like the
one stated,
to heart. Why? Simple; because it is true. A person
who can accept himself, for who he really is, is
much
better off than a conformist, who is uncreative
because he follows the masses. In order to be happy
with
one's self, one must learn to take advantage of
everything, the things one has been blessed with.
One has to
learn to love the imperfections that make up one's
being, because it gives the spirit the freedom that
goes
along with non-conformity; love for one's self will
always outweigh love for the unimaginative
conformist.
These same conformists, who dress, speak, and think
the same things, will never know the freedom of
"just
being you." As the "Rules of Life" state, "Rule number one: You will receive a body. You may
like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the
entire period this time around..." (Anonymous) Unorthodox people appreciate the defects in themselves and in
the world because it gives them something to think
about and
discuss.
"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron
string." (Page 276 Paragraph two). Non-conformists
have the gift of being able to "think outside the
box." These people think about history, philosophy,
literature,
and the information being processed in order to
come to their conclusions. Conformists go with whatever the
opinion is of the mass majority. This shows a core
difference between the conformist and
non-conformist; conformists
are not capable of original thought (concerning the
area they are conformed to), while the
non conformists have
many opinions and thoughts, none of which are
accepted among the conformed.
As Emerson puts is, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind." (Page 276 Paragraph four). A non-conformist can stand on his own two feet, think about the possibilities, make important decisions in life, and deal with whatever incidents occur in his lifetime. This cannot always be said for the conformist. Conformists, it seems, do not know what to do if their fellow peers reject them. For example, in high school there are cliques. The clique a person is in will determine that person's "identity" or reputation. If the head cheerleader decides to quit the squad, she will more than likely be booted out of the cheerleader clique, which leaves the ex-head cheerleader without an identity. She was so used to conforming to the things her friends did, said, dressed, etcetera, that she will not know what to conform to. One act of non conformity will boot the conformist out of his "safe zone" and the identity that went along with the conformity.
Non-conformists
do
not have this problem, because they were outcasts anyway. They think on their own and do not hold the
opinions of others so close to their hearts because
they do not want to intermingle their thoughts and
the
influential thoughts of another. This is why
non-conformists are capable of being true to
themselves, by knowing
who they are in the first place.
"With consistency a great soul has simply nothing
to do." (Page 276 Paragraph five). One of the
best, if
not the most important, features of a
non-conformist is his ingeniousness. He dares
society with his inventive
thinking, his offbeat behavior, his chaotic way of
going about his business. Nothing resembles conformity
when dealing with unorthodox people. He is
misunderstood. For example, Socrates was thought to
be a crazy
man, with all that rubbish philosophy he loved to
spout! The people of today, however, think his
words
were filled with genius. His words have been taught
in schools, analyzed by the best and the brightest,
and
celebrated throughout the world. The innovations of
the non-conformist may have brought on an
ill reputation
(according to the thoughts of conformists), but they
may change the world one day. Those very same
innovations could change the way we do algebra, the
way the Periodic Table is set up, or maybe some
part of the
English language.
However, for now, the narrow-minded conformists will trap the non conformist's originality. After all, there is a reason why Emerson wrote... "To be great is to be misunderstood...." (Page 277 Paragraph five). Emerson's ideas on non-conformity and transcendentalism are very agreeable to me. I think that he was trying to tell his reader that being yourself, being assertive, knowing the people and the society that you surround yourself with, and being self-reliant are the essential elements for living a successful life. He was trying to inspire his peers to think outside the box, using their common sense and past knowledge to make decisions. He was just trying to make those people see that being yourself, knowing who you are, will make a big impact on your life. Because of knowing yourself, you can be self-reliant. Independence from others, this was just the thing Emerson wanted to express. No matter how one puts it, Emerson wanted to, and succeeded in, pointing out how great it is to be your own person, free of the narrow-minded opinions of society, just knowing what you think and expressing it. That is what Emerson wanted to do.
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