And moving along...

Alrighty...I think I used up plenty of words and energy the last couple of days talking about something that bugs me. I noticed it doesn't really help at all to talk about it either...especially since there isn't a real solution. So that being said, I think I need to move along and focus my energies and thoughts in a more positive direction.

One of the ways that I refocus my thoughts and energies is to read something from one of my favorite philospher/writers, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson was part of the American Transcendentalist movement of mid-19th century New England which included other great thinkers and writers such as Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, Henry David Thoreau and more. The American Women's Suffrage movement may owe its beginnings to this group of progressive thinking individuals.

The American Transcendentalist ideas can't be boiled down to a few sentences of dogma. For one, they had no rigid dogma. But the common thread of this movement is the idea that all in life is closely interconnected including nature, humanity, and the divine. Once I began reading many of their ideas, I realized that their thoughts appear deceptively simple. But there's an elegance and underlying rich complexity to these ideas that in my mind put these folks far ahead of their time.

One of the common themes to Emerson's writings is that he urged humanity to look beyond the surface of life, to not be satisifed with the status quo, and to see life as a lifelong journey for personal growth. These things are just the tip of the Emerson iceberg though...because he espoused so much more.

When I feel myself getting off-center, reading Emerson quite often helps me restore balance. And in our busy, bustling, materialistic world, I think it's often easy to lose our way. I'm gonna end this with one of my favorite Emerson passages that almost without fail helps me correct my course.

Success

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson