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Reading Ralph Waldo Emerson
An invitation to nature
I read Emerson because I wanted to be the kind of person who said they’ve read Emerson.
Is that pretentious?
Maybe.
Coming from a blue-collar working-class background, the fact that I’ve read Emerson means something. I’m pretty sure my hard-working dad didn’t even know Emerson was a thing. He never mentioned Emerson anyway.
Do I understand him?
Not really.
But I’ve read him. That makes me feel smarter, even if I’m not.
In his essay “Nature” Emerson wrote:
“I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in the streets or villages.” (Essays & Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Barnes & Noble Classics): Emerson, Ralph Waldo, Norberg, Peter, Norberg, Peter: 9781593080761: Amazon.com: Books)
This resonates.
Walks in the woods rejuvenate and calm me. They ground me.
Emerson was on to something. I want to keep reading.
