Gabriela Sofia Arevalo Ms. Aragona English 3 E October 08, 2014 "Me, Myself and I" "If a plant cannot live according to his nature, it dies; and so a man" (Emerson, 260). Transcendentalism, as expressed by Emerson, is finding your own way to connect with yourself, who you are, and your peace with yourself. Your necessities.Your desires. Your nature. The only way to truly find your transcendentalism is to create your own path to get there. Transcendentalism is comprised of beliefs regarding many different, such as nonconformity, self reliance, free thought, confidence and importance of nature. Although Transcendentalism originated a long time ago, many bands embraced the philosophies of transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau. The …show more content…
Transcendentalist believe that people should be completely free and break away from society. They also believe that people should have their own ideas that originate from themselves and only them. All in all, transcendentalists believe that people should follow their own path and R Kelly does exactly this. Throughout the song, Kelly talks about being free. He also never uses the word '"we" or "they". Everything is all about himself and nobody else. As one can probably imagine, the singer often says "I believe I can fly" (R Kelly 13-15). When he says this he means that he believes he can do anything. This reflects the transcendentalist ideas because the singer is doing what he wants to do the most with no outside influence. "Cause i believe in me" (R Kelly 22); reflects this idea of transcendentalism as well because R Kelly know that he doesn't need anyone else …show more content…
Kelly refers to some of the dark times of his life or moments maybe when he struggled with depression but then he reminded of God's love and know now what true love is. He chooses to not conform to what he was passing through instead he remembered God's love. Emerson expresses a similar idea in the essay "Self Reliance". According to Emerson "Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist" (Emerson 186). It appears that Emerson is saying that a man, is someone who is strong of mind and strong of character, must be a person who does not conform to the circumstances or to a situation, meaning that they do not accept things as they are or agree that things should continue to run as they always been. They believe in change. In "Self Reliance", Emerson states that, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind" (Emerson 186). Emerson and R Kelly share the belief that everything you may pass through life, ups and downs, you are capable to overcome it if you change your mind. You have power over your mind. Another belief that transcendentalism comprises is confidence. Confidence is about feeling capable to do something. Having confidence in yourself and having faith in what seems impossible, is what motivate you to keep trying, even though you know that trough the process you may have difficulties. Confidence