Capture your thinking about your transcendental experience. What was the experience itself? What thoughts did its ensuing reflection questions provoke for you? Respond in at least 1 good-sized paragraph.
My transcendental experience was to give up my cell phone for a day. Typically I use my phone to text friends, check the time, and call my parents after swimming. It was not that difficult for me to not have my phone with me because even the activities I use it for are not that much because I do not like to be dependent on an item. However I felt as if something was missing from me throughout the day. I constantly checked my pocket and just wondered if I had lost my phone or something because I like to carry it with me everywhere. I did sort of like the feeling it gave me not to have a constant link to everyone I know. I just felt as if I had all the time in the world to do whatever I wanted, I felt free. I probably will not continue to do this because my phone is like my lifeline or safety net. That is really the reason I have my phone is to be able to stay in touch with my parents and if there is an emergency. It was a good experience, and maybe one day in the future I will choose to pursue transcendentalism more but for now I like the technology I have.
Today, I went and sat on my back porch. It was chilly but gave me sometime to really ponder what really matters to me in my life. As I was sitting there, it occurred to me that two months ago, I put on a W.W.J.D. bracelet or “what would Jesus do.” For me the idea of living a transcendentalist’s life is far out of reach but maybe hold the same concept as my wearing of the bracelet. Trying to create a more pure lifestyle that maybe involves better ideas, concepts and a better attitude towards life. Day and Night I wear my bracelet and it reminds me to think before I speak or before any actions that may have consequences. I feel that weather than creating solitude for myself, although sometimes needed, its more important to help your friends and family when they are in need and be supportive in that way. Sometimes things come up that do get in the way of this for me and I don’t always think about “What would Jesus do?” But the important thing is that for the most part, I am bettering my life by not living in the forest and secluding myself from society.
This morning, I was merely arriving back home from a sleepover with some of my friends and decided to take a quick bike ride to an old friendly spot I haven't been to in a while. I road all the way to Random Road, Colorado. The focus of being a new kid at a new school has made my travels to this place, I used to go every week, sort of scarce. I pulled over and sat on the edge of the creek for awhile. I just sat there and began to realize things I never take enough time to think about. Even though it was pretty chilly, there was a quietness I haven't had in a while. That's when I started thinking about my life and wondering what kind of impact I have made on people? Have I made a positive or negative impact on my family and friends? Sitting there in the brush of old leaves, I realized the amount of fear I have lived in. Taking risks has always been something I would rather do. So why have I not been sitting in the driver's seat and using courage when faced with adventure? This solitude I experienced not only granted me quietness and independence, but also the serenity to see who I truly was and how I want to be rather than who I am. I want to live my life to the fullest and an hour of pure solitude brought that dream back to life.
As my transcendental experience, I gave up use of the computer yesterday. I use my laptop, to be honest, far more than I probably should. Although I don't consider what I do on it to be "wasting time", per se, I do think that I do spend more time on it than is strictly necessary. I usually use it as a tool of connection to people - through Facebook, Twitter, and various internet forums - as well as a tool of knowledge. I'll read newspapers and other media online for current event updates. Yesterday, though, I avoided the computer entirely. Instead, I spent many hours reading and a couple hours with my friend.
Honestly, it didn't feel particularly transcendental to me. I don't rely on the computer, it seems, however much I use it, and so the experience mostly felt like a day where use of my laptop just didn't fit into my schedule. I don't think I'll continue to limit my time on the computer, though I suppose it'll eventually phase out as a large presence in my day-to-day life.
I don't really agree with the ideals of transcendentalism, especially those that center around the idea that society is always corrupting. I like my computer as a tool of connection to people. If anything, I've grown more because of their influences. That being said, I spend more time doing that which the transcendentalists advocate - being alone and introspective - than most people I know.
Overall, it was interesting to see how little of an effect it had on me, since I don't think that had to do with any lack of authenticity with which I participated.
For my transcendental experience I chose to be in solitude for a little bit. This however was not the first time I have ever done this; in the past I have always been a nature lover. Often times when I would go to the mountains I would enjoy sitting by myself listening to nature. Even now a days I still enjoy laying in the grass during a cold night gazing at the stars. One trouble for me is that I enjoy doing this, but I never focus on those transcendental questions, my mind is always wandering. For example, this time I started off thinking about my place in the world, but by the end I found myself thinking about what I was going to write for the LA blog, how to get an A on my personal philosophy, and other related topics. What I've learned is that when I’m by myself in nature I enjoy it; however, I tend to use it as a time for me to get my priorities in order, not to focus on who I am or what I want to become. One interesting thing though is later that night I researched careers that interest me and colleges best fit for teaching them. Overall it's just peaceful for me to go lay in the grass on a cold night and look at the stars and spend time alone with nature, not my thoughts.
The tramcedental experience I chose was to give up my facebook for a few days. At first I kind of feld "out-of-the-loo" and it proved to be quite a challenge at first. because that is the activity I fall back on when I am bored. After about a day, however, it became easier but that's because, I though, it was the weekend and there was plenty other things I could do, like hang out with my friends. I don't really feel as though it 'cleansed' me or gave me a break in any way. In agreement with Emily, it didn't feel transcendental. Perhaps that is because I have become to dependent on modern day technology and state-of-the-art systems of communication. I think that can be attricuted to our modern day society and how technologically dependent we have come. Perhaps if I continued this ecperiment for a few more days I would see a change in my opimion, but for the time being, I did not see a change in my habits. For example, whenever I get on the computer, I almost always login into facebook without question. I don't even mean to. It has just become such a distraction and a habit that I sometimes forget the reason why I was supposed to be getting on the computer. Even though I was giving up my facebook, I still had the habit to want to type in the url www.facebook.com. Reflecting overall, I fell that the entire experience would be more effective if it extended to about a week, because it had affected me very little and I didn't notice any change in my habits or mindset
In an effort to engage in a transcendental experience, I took a blanket to my backyard and laid it out on the dead grass. As I laid there, I couldn't help but to think about my surroundings. I was laying on dead grass, looking up at a cloudless sky, surrounded by a plain, brown fence. Suddenly, I felt alone and sad. I realized that being surrounded by nothingness is a very scary place to be. I tried to reflect on my life and answer questions about myself, but I found that my mind simply wouldn't let me do that. If I thought about my personal philosophy project, that led to thinking about my grades, which led to thoughts of failure, which led to a glimpse into my future as a criminal if I am not perfect at everything. My mind is a scary place, and I prefer not to be alone in it. That's probably the reason I constantly stress out over other people's problems. I don't want to focus on myself too much because it only leads to disappointment. This experience wasn't very effective in my case because I couldn't focus on myself. I liked being outside, even though the scenery didn't prove to promote serenity and quiet. I learned that I could never be a transcendentalist because I care too much about other people, and giving up on them would give me a ridiculous amount of stress and regret.
The transcendental experience that I chose to do was #2, I gave up Facebook for four days. I decided to give this up because I find that it often distracts me and causes me to procrastinate on doing more important things. Almost every single time that I get onto the computer the first thing I do when I pull up the internet is get onto Facebook (it is so habitual that I even sometimes unconsciously try and log on at school). When I started to give it up the longer that I wasn’t logged in, it felt as though I was left out of things. I use Facebook to communicate mainly with my cousin in Florida, and not being able to see her frequent status updates I made me feel out of touch. But I was able to find other ways to get in touch with her, so it didn’t end up causing me any problems. Therefore, I am happy to get to be back on Facebook soon, but this taught be how reliant I am on it. I don’t often pick up my phone to call someone, however without this internet communication method, it made me pick up the phone in order to keep in constant contact with her. After trying this I will continue to stay off through finals, to keep myself mainly from not being distracted. I will also try and stop the habit of automatically logging on, and only get on when I have free time, and when I have a purpose for getting on. I think that this experience has taught me how much more productive I can be when not using it, but it also taught me how reliant I am on it to keep in contact with people.
For my transcendental experience I chose to give up my self phone for the weekend. This made me feel very isolated and I pretty much just hung out with my family because I had no way of getting into contact with my friends. Since I had so much extra time on my hands,because I couldn't hang out with my friends, I really thought about my life and some very difficult problems that I need to resolve. I was able to think about my relationships, both functional and disfunctional. While doing this experience, it taught me to be more independent and have your interior "world" be the source of your happiness, not your exterior "world". I learned a lot from this experience, but it is pretty unrealistic for me, because I missed hanging out with my friends.
For my transcendental activity, I did a variation of the first option by taking a 40 minute run this morning outside. I felt it was appropriate because I was outdoors, by myself, and it was quiet. As I ran, I couldn't help but to think about myself as an individual. Firstly, I was thinking about my purpose for running: to keep in shape. Then I thought of the deeper reason behind it and my constant need of exercise. It made me question how I felt about myself, body, and outlook on life. Was I running because I wasn't happy with my appearance? Or was it because I have O.C.D. and feel the constant need to stay active. Whatever my possible conclusions were, they didn't make me very happy. They made me feel as if I were doubting myself as an individual because I was thinking about my flaws as a human. I know I have flaws, as every human does, and therefore I believe it is not necessary to face them in deep thought. This is why I feel that self reflection in the sense of a transcendentalist is impractical because sometimes it causes the individual to doubt themselves rather than focusing on self discovering.
The transcendental experience I chose was to spend a little bit of time in solitude. Just now I went outside in my backyard and sat on the steps of my patio and let myself think. At first my thoughts were completely caught up in the fact that I have been studying all day today but I still have so much more left to do. I was a little bit frustrated at first and I really wanted to do this activity quickly so I could get back to homework, but as I sat there my thoughts started drifting towards more meaningful things. I started wondering about the kind of impact I have made on my friends and family. Then I looked down at the ring that I always wear that says "Love, Hope, and Faith". For me those are the things that drive life for me, and thats the kinds of things that matter to me the most. When I was almost ready to go inside, I looked at the glowing moon above and how beautiful it was, and it made me think of how beautiful life is. This activity helped me understand that there are a lot of distractions in the world, but you have to focus on the things that are the most important. Overall it was very quiet and peaceful sitting in the cool night, and it made me think of some important things. Yet I dont think I could be a transcedentalist because it would mean spending more time alone in solitude which I dont enjoy as much as being surronded with friends and family and stressing over priorities like school work.
For the transcendental experience I decided to give up Facebook for three days. This was not an easy task for me considering Im usually on Facebook every day. It was very tempting and hard at first but have the first day it became a relief. For once I was not worried about what was going on in other peoples lives, just my own. I did not focus on what everyone else had to say and I really just had my own thoughts without others opinions. When I look back on it, I realized I actually enjoyed it. I didnt waste my time looking at the most recent status updates but solely on more important things. It was relaxing and a nice change. The dependence of modern day technology became clear however and made me wonder what life would be like without it? I noticed a difference with not using facebook for a few days and wonder what a difference it would make if everyone did just that. I think it is important for everyone to take a break from things such as this and focus our thoughts in a different direction. I think this helps us take a look at ourselves and realize what is really important.
To help engage in my Transcendental experience I choose to be in solitude. It was really nice actually. I just laid under my Christmas Tree and thought about all kinds of things. Granted I wasn't out and about in nature I was still in solitude. I let my mind wonder and came to a lot of conclusions about things. It was really nice to take a break from the pressure of finals and technology. Just laying there looking at the lights and the ornaments and thinking back. I thought of my life and how it is, and I've got a truely blessed life that I don't think I notice as much as I should. As for who I want to be and how close I am to being that, I do honestly have trouble keeping up with how I think I should be, Society is always presurring me to be like everyone else. This weekend I worked on my philosophy a lot and this transcendental experience truely helped me out with that. I think it's really difficult to apply these transendental ideas to my life though, we disscused this in our groups during class on Friday. We came to a conclusion that our lives today demand a lot of things that transendental ideas get in the way of. Like giving up technology and connecting with nature is not something that can be done today 24/7. The world around us demands us to connect and be envolved by technology. School demands this and friends and family do too. It's a wonderful idea to live a transendental life but seems unrealistic nowadays.
I chose to enjoy the outdoors a bit, just by myself for my Transcendental experience. There is this little park near my house called Ketring, and every day during the summer I used to walk there and read my book until the sun went down. I stopped the tradition once the sun started setting so early and I was so busy with school and swim, but Sunday I decided to revisit Ketring. First, there's a clearing surrounded all by trees, and in the center there is one huge tree with a picnic bench under it. And once you go beyond the trees, there is a lake with all sorts of ducks and geese. There are benches near the lake too, where couples can sit and watch the sun go down. I didn't bring my book this time, though. I sat on the grass and looked up at the sky. I felt self conscious about being the only one on the field, just laying there, wondering what the people walking by might think. I thought about how silly it was to be so worried about what other people might think. (I also remembered a story I read once about a guy who got the police called on him when he was laying in a field because someone thought he was dead...) I decided it was irrelevant, and that my worries regarding what other people were thinking was in the way of my reflecting. Wait, isn't that exactly what the self-reliance article was about? Feeling foolish, I sat up and watched the people jogging by, or walking their dogs, or riding their bikes. No one ever looks sad at Ketring, though I don't know how they could. It's my oasis. It's perfect. I'm really glad I went back there, it had been much too long since I visited.
This was a particularly difficult project for me to do. I am not a nature fanatic, nor do I want to give up any of my possesions. However, one day I forgot my phone at home. I couldn't resist repetitively checking my bookbag once again for it, and then when I failed to find it, I would continualy hate on myself for forgetting to grab it as I left. When I got home from school, I resisted the urge to go and grab my phone. When I left the house, I could not resist the temptation to grab it as I walked out the door, rationalizing my need for it. I need my phone to get a hold of my parents, converse with my friends, and keep my schedual running smoothly. It is very difficult to not have a phone in this time, it provides to a gateway to the things that you need or desire.
For my transcendental project, I reflected on my life while I was home alone after school. My thoughts kept going back to Thoreau's work "Self-Reliance". It is very important for us to do what we think is right, because if we just go with the flow nothing new will ever be created. Also, I remembered learning in US History last year about "The Silent Majority", all the people who opposed the hippie movement (I think) but rarely said anything. I realized that if i went with what I believed, ohter people I never knew thought that way would come out as well. I also took some time to read my bible, because that is what i want the center of my life to be. Too often, however, other things get in the way of that, like schoolwork and sports. It is important to make time for yourself every once in a while to re-center yourself and declutter your life. If we just keep working nonstop, we start to focus too much on the little things and not enough on the big things.
for my transcendentalist experience i both shut off my phone for the weekend starting thursday as well as meditate at the end of every day. Not having my phone in my pocket gave me a surprisingly light feeling to my pockets and made me feel free and carefree. My daily meditation just before bed was a very interesting experience. It made time seem to drag on for eternity for one. A second feeling it gave me was one of relaxation and peace. I slept better on those nights than i have in a long time. It also made my brain and actions slow down and it felt like i was living in slow motion when i stopped meditating. It was a very interesting experience and i think i will continue to do those things.
I choose to not use my cell phone for the weekend including friday. For me it was not very fun. I usually use my phone quite abit over the weekend. I use it to stay intouch with all of my friends and what they are doing. When I was technologically cut off i found that i was cut off physically aswell. This was the scariest part of my experience. When i was alone i found my thoughts running away from myself which lead to some scary places. I thought about the anxiety I had last year about finials and trying to avoid that this year but the more i thought about it the more anxiety i got. By the end of Saturday night i was the most terrified person on the planet. It was an interesting experience but i would not want to do it ever again.
So, I am definitely a bit late posting this which just goes to show how jam packed my life is and how much I need a break. I took one the other day though as my transcendental experience and just for the fun of it when I went snowboarding. I find that often being alone is no more gratifying or less busy then doing school work or being with others, so in order to truly detach from my mind I have to be doing something labor intensive like running or snowboarding. It was great though just experiencing the mountain and the cold and just that even if it cost me valuable study time I was able to forget studying altogether for a few hours.
Obviously, I was slow getting my transcendatl experience on the blog. As I said in class, I don't have much time with school and baseball almost 24/7 in my life. When my sister was here, it was definately an easier time for me to be with someone and hang out while still getting things done. Nowadays, it's much harder becasue without that person you can just go chat with, you have to do a lot of things by yourself. For my transcendental experince, I chose to give up my Xbox and PS3 for a couple days. Being something that I enjoy as well as something that passes the time when I'm bored, it was pretty hard for me to find something else to do with the time I had after I was finished with the things i needed to get done. However, in a way it was also very beneficial because it kept me away from playing them which led to me actually finishing all the things that needed to be done. Although I couldn't live my life as a transcendentalist, it was a neat experience in which I got to see the other side of the spectrum.
My transcendental experience was to give up my cell phone for a day. Typically I use my phone to text friends, check the time, and call my parents after swimming. It was not that difficult for me to not have my phone with me because even the activities I use it for are not that much because I do not like to be dependent on an item. However I felt as if something was missing from me throughout the day. I constantly checked my pocket and just wondered if I had lost my phone or something because I like to carry it with me everywhere. I did sort of like the feeling it gave me not to have a constant link to everyone I know. I just felt as if I had all the time in the world to do whatever I wanted, I felt free. I probably will not continue to do this because my phone is like my lifeline or safety net. That is really the reason I have my phone is to be able to stay in touch with my parents and if there is an emergency. It was a good experience, and maybe one day in the future I will choose to pursue transcendentalism more but for now I like the technology I have.
ReplyDeleteToday, I went and sat on my back porch. It was chilly but gave me sometime to really ponder what really matters to me in my life. As I was sitting there, it occurred to me that two months ago, I put on a W.W.J.D. bracelet or “what would Jesus do.” For me the idea of living a transcendentalist’s life is far out of reach but maybe hold the same concept as my wearing of the bracelet. Trying to create a more pure lifestyle that maybe involves better ideas, concepts and a better attitude towards life. Day and Night I wear my bracelet and it reminds me to think before I speak or before any actions that may have consequences. I feel that weather than creating solitude for myself, although sometimes needed, its more important to help your friends and family when they are in need and be supportive in that way. Sometimes things come up that do get in the way of this for me and I don’t always think about “What would Jesus do?” But the important thing is that for the most part, I am bettering my life by not living in the forest and secluding myself from society.
ReplyDeleteThis morning, I was merely arriving back home from a sleepover with some of my friends and decided to take a quick bike ride to an old friendly spot I haven't been to in a while. I road all the way to Random Road, Colorado. The focus of being a new kid at a new school has made my travels to this place, I used to go every week, sort of scarce. I pulled over and sat on the edge of the creek for awhile. I just sat there and began to realize things I never take enough time to think about. Even though it was pretty chilly, there was a quietness I haven't had in a while. That's when I started thinking about my life and wondering what kind of impact I have made on people? Have I made a positive or negative impact on my family and friends? Sitting there in the brush of old leaves, I realized the amount of fear I have lived in. Taking risks has always been something I would rather do. So why have I not been sitting in the driver's seat and using courage when faced with adventure? This solitude I experienced not only granted me quietness and independence, but also the serenity to see who I truly was and how I want to be rather than who I am. I want to live my life to the fullest and an hour of pure solitude brought that dream back to life.
ReplyDeleteAs my transcendental experience, I gave up use of the computer yesterday. I use my laptop, to be honest, far more than I probably should. Although I don't consider what I do on it to be "wasting time", per se, I do think that I do spend more time on it than is strictly necessary. I usually use it as a tool of connection to people - through Facebook, Twitter, and various internet forums - as well as a tool of knowledge. I'll read newspapers and other media online for current event updates. Yesterday, though, I avoided the computer entirely. Instead, I spent many hours reading and a couple hours with my friend.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, it didn't feel particularly transcendental to me. I don't rely on the computer, it seems, however much I use it, and so the experience mostly felt like a day where use of my laptop just didn't fit into my schedule. I don't think I'll continue to limit my time on the computer, though I suppose it'll eventually phase out as a large presence in my day-to-day life.
I don't really agree with the ideals of transcendentalism, especially those that center around the idea that society is always corrupting. I like my computer as a tool of connection to people. If anything, I've grown more because of their influences. That being said, I spend more time doing that which the transcendentalists advocate - being alone and introspective - than most people I know.
Overall, it was interesting to see how little of an effect it had on me, since I don't think that had to do with any lack of authenticity with which I participated.
For my transcendental experience I chose to be in solitude for a little bit. This however was not the first time I have ever done this; in the past I have always been a nature lover. Often times when I would go to the mountains I would enjoy sitting by myself listening to nature. Even now a days I still enjoy laying in the grass during a cold night gazing at the stars. One trouble for me is that I enjoy doing this, but I never focus on those transcendental questions, my mind is always wandering. For example, this time I started off thinking about my place in the world, but by the end I found myself thinking about what I was going to write for the LA blog, how to get an A on my personal philosophy, and other related topics. What I've learned is that when I’m by myself in nature I enjoy it; however, I tend to use it as a time for me to get my priorities in order, not to focus on who I am or what I want to become. One interesting thing though is later that night I researched careers that interest me and colleges best fit for teaching them. Overall it's just peaceful for me to go lay in the grass on a cold night and look at the stars and spend time alone with nature, not my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThe tramcedental experience I chose was to give up my facebook for a few days. At first I kind of feld "out-of-the-loo" and it proved to be quite a challenge at first. because that is the activity I fall back on when I am bored. After about a day, however, it became easier but that's because, I though, it was the weekend and there was plenty other things I could do, like hang out with my friends. I don't really feel as though it 'cleansed' me or gave me a break in any way. In agreement with Emily, it didn't feel transcendental. Perhaps that is because I have become to dependent on modern day technology and state-of-the-art systems of communication. I think that can be attricuted to our modern day society and how technologically dependent we have come. Perhaps if I continued this ecperiment for a few more days I would see a change in my opimion, but for the time being, I did not see a change in my habits. For example, whenever I get on the computer, I almost always login into facebook without question. I don't even mean to. It has just become such a distraction and a habit that I sometimes forget the reason why I was supposed to be getting on the computer. Even though I was giving up my facebook, I still had the habit to want to type in the url www.facebook.com. Reflecting overall, I fell that the entire experience would be more effective if it extended to about a week, because it had affected me very little and I didn't notice any change in my habits or mindset
ReplyDeleteIn an effort to engage in a transcendental experience, I took a blanket to my backyard and laid it out on the dead grass. As I laid there, I couldn't help but to think about my surroundings. I was laying on dead grass, looking up at a cloudless sky, surrounded by a plain, brown fence. Suddenly, I felt alone and sad. I realized that being surrounded by nothingness is a very scary place to be. I tried to reflect on my life and answer questions about myself, but I found that my mind simply wouldn't let me do that. If I thought about my personal philosophy project, that led to thinking about my grades, which led to thoughts of failure, which led to a glimpse into my future as a criminal if I am not perfect at everything. My mind is a scary place, and I prefer not to be alone in it. That's probably the reason I constantly stress out over other people's problems. I don't want to focus on myself too much because it only leads to disappointment. This experience wasn't very effective in my case because I couldn't focus on myself. I liked being outside, even though the scenery didn't prove to promote serenity and quiet. I learned that I could never be a transcendentalist because I care too much about other people, and giving up on them would give me a ridiculous amount of stress and regret.
ReplyDeleteThe last comment was Taylor W's, Mrs. Lee!
ReplyDeleteThe transcendental experience that I chose to do was #2, I gave up Facebook for four days. I decided to give this up because I find that it often distracts me and causes me to procrastinate on doing more important things. Almost every single time that I get onto the computer the first thing I do when I pull up the internet is get onto Facebook (it is so habitual that I even sometimes unconsciously try and log on at school). When I started to give it up the longer that I wasn’t logged in, it felt as though I was left out of things. I use Facebook to communicate mainly with my cousin in Florida, and not being able to see her frequent status updates I made me feel out of touch. But I was able to find other ways to get in touch with her, so it didn’t end up causing me any problems. Therefore, I am happy to get to be back on Facebook soon, but this taught be how reliant I am on it. I don’t often pick up my phone to call someone, however without this internet communication method, it made me pick up the phone in order to keep in constant contact with her. After trying this I will continue to stay off through finals, to keep myself mainly from not being distracted. I will also try and stop the habit of automatically logging on, and only get on when I have free time, and when I have a purpose for getting on. I think that this experience has taught me how much more productive I can be when not using it, but it also taught me how reliant I am on it to keep in contact with people.
ReplyDeleteFor my transcendental experience I chose to give up my self phone for the weekend. This made me feel very isolated and I pretty much just hung out with my family because I had no way of getting into contact with my friends. Since I had so much extra time on my hands,because I couldn't hang out with my friends, I really thought about my life and some very difficult problems that I need to resolve. I was able to think about my relationships, both functional and disfunctional. While doing this experience, it taught me to be more independent and have your interior "world" be the source of your happiness, not your exterior "world". I learned a lot from this experience, but it is pretty unrealistic for me, because I missed hanging out with my friends.
ReplyDeleteFor my transcendental activity, I did a variation of the first option by taking a 40 minute run this morning outside. I felt it was appropriate because I was outdoors, by myself, and it was quiet. As I ran, I couldn't help but to think about myself as an individual. Firstly, I was thinking about my purpose for running: to keep in shape. Then I thought of the deeper reason behind it and my constant need of exercise. It made me question how I felt about myself, body, and outlook on life. Was I running because I wasn't happy with my appearance? Or was it because I have O.C.D. and feel the constant need to stay active. Whatever my possible conclusions were, they didn't make me very happy. They made me feel as if I were doubting myself as an individual because I was thinking about my flaws as a human. I know I have flaws, as every human does, and therefore I believe it is not necessary to face them in deep thought. This is why I feel that self reflection in the sense of a transcendentalist is impractical because sometimes it causes the individual to doubt themselves rather than focusing on self discovering.
ReplyDeleteThe transcendental experience I chose was to spend a little bit of time in solitude. Just now I went outside in my backyard and sat on the steps of my patio and let myself think. At first my thoughts were completely caught up in the fact that I have been studying all day today but I still have so much more left to do. I was a little bit frustrated at first and I really wanted to do this activity quickly so I could get back to homework, but as I sat there my thoughts started drifting towards more meaningful things. I started wondering about the kind of impact I have made on my friends and family. Then I looked down at the ring that I always wear that says "Love, Hope, and Faith". For me those are the things that drive life for me, and thats the kinds of things that matter to me the most. When I was almost ready to go inside, I looked at the glowing moon above and how beautiful it was, and it made me think of how beautiful life is. This activity helped me understand that there are a lot of distractions in the world, but you have to focus on the things that are the most important. Overall it was very quiet and peaceful sitting in the cool night, and it made me think of some important things. Yet I dont think I could be a transcedentalist because it would mean spending more time alone in solitude which I dont enjoy as much as being surronded with friends and family and stressing over priorities like school work.
ReplyDeleteFor the transcendental experience I decided to give up Facebook for three days. This was not an easy task for me considering Im usually on Facebook every day. It was very tempting and hard at first but have the first day it became a relief. For once I was not worried about what was going on in other peoples lives, just my own. I did not focus on what everyone else had to say and I really just had my own thoughts without others opinions. When I look back on it, I realized I actually enjoyed it. I didnt waste my time looking at the most recent status updates but solely on more important things. It was relaxing and a nice change. The dependence of modern day technology became clear however and made me wonder what life would be like without it? I noticed a difference with not using facebook for a few days and wonder what a difference it would make if everyone did just that. I think it is important for everyone to take a break from things such as this and focus our thoughts in a different direction. I think this helps us take a look at ourselves and realize what is really important.
ReplyDeleteTo help engage in my Transcendental experience I choose to be in solitude. It was really nice actually. I just laid under my Christmas Tree and thought about all kinds of things. Granted I wasn't out and about in nature I was still in solitude. I let my mind wonder and came to a lot of conclusions about things. It was really nice to take a break from the pressure of finals and technology. Just laying there looking at the lights and the ornaments and thinking back. I thought of my life and how it is, and I've got a truely blessed life that I don't think I notice as much as I should. As for who I want to be and how close I am to being that, I do honestly have trouble keeping up with how I think I should be, Society is always presurring me to be like everyone else. This weekend I worked on my philosophy a lot and this transcendental experience truely helped me out with that. I think it's really difficult to apply these transendental ideas to my life though, we disscused this in our groups during class on Friday. We came to a conclusion that our lives today demand a lot of things that transendental ideas get in the way of. Like giving up technology and connecting with nature is not something that can be done today 24/7. The world around us demands us to connect and be envolved by technology. School demands this and friends and family do too. It's a wonderful idea to live a transendental life but seems unrealistic nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI chose to enjoy the outdoors a bit, just by myself for my Transcendental experience. There is this little park near my house called Ketring, and every day during the summer I used to walk there and read my book until the sun went down. I stopped the tradition once the sun started setting so early and I was so busy with school and swim, but Sunday I decided to revisit Ketring. First, there's a clearing surrounded all by trees, and in the center there is one huge tree with a picnic bench under it. And once you go beyond the trees, there is a lake with all sorts of ducks and geese. There are benches near the lake too, where couples can sit and watch the sun go down. I didn't bring my book this time, though. I sat on the grass and looked up at the sky. I felt self conscious about being the only one on the field, just laying there, wondering what the people walking by might think. I thought about how silly it was to be so worried about what other people might think. (I also remembered a story I read once about a guy who got the police called on him when he was laying in a field because someone thought he was dead...) I decided it was irrelevant, and that my worries regarding what other people were thinking was in the way of my reflecting. Wait, isn't that exactly what the self-reliance article was about? Feeling foolish, I sat up and watched the people jogging by, or walking their dogs, or riding their bikes. No one ever looks sad at Ketring, though I don't know how they could. It's my oasis. It's perfect. I'm really glad I went back there, it had been much too long since I visited.
ReplyDeleteThis was a particularly difficult project for me to do. I am not a nature fanatic, nor do I want to give up any of my possesions. However, one day I forgot my phone at home. I couldn't resist repetitively checking my bookbag once again for it, and then when I failed to find it, I would continualy hate on myself for forgetting to grab it as I left. When I got home from school, I resisted the urge to go and grab my phone. When I left the house, I could not resist the temptation to grab it as I walked out the door, rationalizing my need for it.
ReplyDeleteI need my phone to get a hold of my parents, converse with my friends, and keep my schedual running smoothly. It is very difficult to not have a phone in this time, it provides to a gateway to the things that you need or desire.
For my transcendental project, I reflected on my life while I was home alone after school. My thoughts kept going back to Thoreau's work "Self-Reliance". It is very important for us to do what we think is right, because if we just go with the flow nothing new will ever be created. Also, I remembered learning in US History last year about "The Silent Majority", all the people who opposed the hippie movement (I think) but rarely said anything. I realized that if i went with what I believed, ohter people I never knew thought that way would come out as well.
ReplyDeleteI also took some time to read my bible, because that is what i want the center of my life to be. Too often, however, other things get in the way of that, like schoolwork and sports. It is important to make time for yourself every once in a while to re-center yourself and declutter your life. If we just keep working nonstop, we start to focus too much on the little things and not enough on the big things.
for my transcendentalist experience i both shut off my phone for the weekend starting thursday as well as meditate at the end of every day. Not having my phone in my pocket gave me a surprisingly light feeling to my pockets and made me feel free and carefree. My daily meditation just before bed was a very interesting experience. It made time seem to drag on for eternity for one. A second feeling it gave me was one of relaxation and peace. I slept better on those nights than i have in a long time. It also made my brain and actions slow down and it felt like i was living in slow motion when i stopped meditating. It was a very interesting experience and i think i will continue to do those things.
ReplyDeleteI choose to not use my cell phone for the weekend including friday. For me it was not very fun. I usually use my phone quite abit over the weekend. I use it to stay intouch with all of my friends and what they are doing. When I was technologically cut off i found that i was cut off physically aswell. This was the scariest part of my experience. When i was alone i found my thoughts running away from myself which lead to some scary places. I thought about the anxiety I had last year about finials and trying to avoid that this year but the more i thought about it the more anxiety i got. By the end of Saturday night i was the most terrified person on the planet. It was an interesting experience but i would not want to do it ever again.
ReplyDeleteSo, I am definitely a bit late posting this which just goes to show how jam packed my life is and how much I need a break. I took one the other day though as my transcendental experience and just for the fun of it when I went snowboarding. I find that often being alone is no more gratifying or less busy then doing school work or being with others, so in order to truly detach from my mind I have to be doing something labor intensive like running or snowboarding. It was great though just experiencing the mountain and the cold and just that even if it cost me valuable study time I was able to forget studying altogether for a few hours.
ReplyDeleteObviously, I was slow getting my transcendatl experience on the blog. As I said in class, I don't have much time with school and baseball almost 24/7 in my life. When my sister was here, it was definately an easier time for me to be with someone and hang out while still getting things done. Nowadays, it's much harder becasue without that person you can just go chat with, you have to do a lot of things by yourself. For my transcendental experince, I chose to give up my Xbox and PS3 for a couple days. Being something that I enjoy as well as something that passes the time when I'm bored, it was pretty hard for me to find something else to do with the time I had after I was finished with the things i needed to get done. However, in a way it was also very beneficial because it kept me away from playing them which led to me actually finishing all the things that needed to be done. Although I couldn't live my life as a transcendentalist, it was a neat experience in which I got to see the other side of the spectrum.
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