Self-Reliance

"The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, excerpt from "Self-Reliance"

Most days I find that while my mind is capable of it's very own genius, my mouth is no more than a mute. The gems of this world that are the most glorious, are also the most elusive. And when you began to consciously try to find it, when your focus gets caught up in the desire, instead of simply being in the moment of the process, it becomes near impossible to find the magic.

My heart swells up with the entire joy of the entire universe and that is a heavy load to carry without the means for it's release. The body and mind work themselves into a frenzy when they are swelling in such a way. And I am paralyzed because I know with too much of my desire projected into proactive hunting for a release, I will loose the whole thing. So, I wait, and try to convince myself of patience.

Today I got ahold of a podcast of Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance essay. This essay in particular so eloquently makes sense of the human condition, which also provides such great insight and validation of the creative human. How the ultimate truth lies within, the trouble caused by not allowing it to live, as well as the great rewards for trusting in it.

For those who don't already love Emerson, reading his work can be like running a mental triathlon. The intensity and potency of every single sentence, while captivating, can also be exhausting. Being able to listen to the essay being read in audio, somehow breaks the words down a little more, making the whole piece much easier to conquer. It's linked below, and you can also find it HERE from learnoutloud.com. You can get the read-able version HERE.

I think what is so compelling about Emerson's work is that he is an intellectual, but not an elitist. While many men of equal intelligence and education might have committed their potentials to highly specialized pursuits that are of importance to a small few, but relatively useless for the vast majority.... Emerson is every man's writer. He can speak to the heart of any man, by concerning himself with the core values of all. He was a wonderfully humanistic writer. Absolutely one of my favorites.