Visiting Emerson's Grave
Reposted from my blog: redfishingboat.com/2008/10/visiting-emersons-grave/
When times are hard, we look for clues. Clues about the escape route, the treasure map, the method to slay the beast. We seek these clues in the usual places. Or, we don't look for clues at all. Sometimes clues find us. Every morning, I need to imagine a new reason to get out of bed, seek the treasure. Here's a clue:
As luck would have it, (or, is it habit?), I found myself looking at photographs taken by a stranger. This time around, an empty and whited time like any other, I saw a plaintive photo among hundreds of other photos, a matter-of-fact image of an old grave with an old name;
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
It's a name that carries some weight, three names actually, signifying Historical Importance of a High Order. Of course, it's a name not unfamiliar and, of course, most famous to amateur speechwriters everywhere as the source of many inspiring aphorisms that leap off the pages of your favorite catalog of famous quotations.
Emerson sure could turn a phrase. Hell, I unwittingly cited him with my high school yearbook quote, pulled from Bartlett's, perhaps:
Whoso would be a man, would be a nonconformist.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ta daa! Profound, yeah? Suits me.
And, for years, Emerson was just that; a clever name. A name that when dropped, lends the speaker the gravitas of One Who Has Read. Of course, nobody I know has actually read Emerson. Somewhere down the line, however, I did the unthinkable. I actually did.
I picked up Emerson's Essays at a second-hand paperback shop. My copy has the single ugliest most unreadable cover in the history of visual design -- something I take a perverse pleasure in owning.
To read Emerson takes some time. You must dive in to the deep end and immerse yourself in an old prosaic style that takes some getting used to. For me, whiskey speeds this process nicely. When you break through, Emerson can hurt you. He will call out your foibles and failings and show them to you. But, within that you can find pure inspiration. The reason Emerson is in so many quote books is that he inspired so many, who citied him, and thus inspired others, thus trickling down to be mere caricature, a footnote. But, there is real meat to Emerson. I read and I got it. But, it was a long time ago. It feels like another life.
This is what I was reminded of when I saw the photograph of his final resting place. And, therein is the clue.
Chief among Emerson's work, for me, is the essay Self-Reliance. You could run off and read it, but keep in mind my admonition that you need to acclimate yourself to his prose. Im fact, just for now, let's do what so many have done and distill him to a quote. For me, the ultimate quote:
Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. It is not without preestablished harmony, this sculpture in the memory. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray.
There it is; a mere handful of words that have kept me going in dark times such as these. You may find it dense, dry, or powerful. In any case, let me dive in and break it down:
Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none.
What Emerson is saying here is that when you see something interesting, it means something. Your point of view, your eye, has intrinsic value.
It is not without preestablished harmony, this sculpture in the memory.
He means that it's all part of a piece. Your take on the world is part of the world. Your ideas are part of what make the world what it is.
The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray.
This line has moved me to tears on not a few occasions. Even as I write about it now, it is with a tight and urgent excitement. (I take a deep breath) Not only is your vision meaningful, it is also unique and necessary. You have to be there to see what you see. And, you have to bear witness, in whatever way you know how; Write, take pictures, tell stores, give hugs, smile, clean houses, fix tacos, till the earth, have children. Testify! Your story, your life is the testament to a the way the heavens have aligned just for you. Only then is the harmony of life complete.
Now, go and read the essay. Understand it, I hope, or don't. When I feel I can never take another picture, when I feel I can't rise from my pillow, this is why I can.
Visiting Emerson's Grave
Reposted from my blog: redfishingboat.com/2008/10/visiting-emersons-grave/
When times are hard, we look for clues. Clues about the escape route, the treasure map, the method to slay the beast. We seek these clues in the usual places. Or, we don't look for clues at all. Sometimes clues find us. Every morning, I need to imagine a new reason to get out of bed, seek the treasure. Here's a clue:
As luck would have it, (or, is it habit?), I found myself looking at photographs taken by a stranger. This time around, an empty and whited time like any other, I saw a plaintive photo among hundreds of other photos, a matter-of-fact image of an old grave with an old name;
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
It's a name that carries some weight, three names actually, signifying Historical Importance of a High Order. Of course, it's a name not unfamiliar and, of course, most famous to amateur speechwriters everywhere as the source of many inspiring aphorisms that leap off the pages of your favorite catalog of famous quotations.
Emerson sure could turn a phrase. Hell, I unwittingly cited him with my high school yearbook quote, pulled from Bartlett's, perhaps:
Whoso would be a man, would be a nonconformist.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ta daa! Profound, yeah? Suits me.
And, for years, Emerson was just that; a clever name. A name that when dropped, lends the speaker the gravitas of One Who Has Read. Of course, nobody I know has actually read Emerson. Somewhere down the line, however, I did the unthinkable. I actually did.
I picked up Emerson's Essays at a second-hand paperback shop. My copy has the single ugliest most unreadable cover in the history of visual design -- something I take a perverse pleasure in owning.
To read Emerson takes some time. You must dive in to the deep end and immerse yourself in an old prosaic style that takes some getting used to. For me, whiskey speeds this process nicely. When you break through, Emerson can hurt you. He will call out your foibles and failings and show them to you. But, within that you can find pure inspiration. The reason Emerson is in so many quote books is that he inspired so many, who citied him, and thus inspired others, thus trickling down to be mere caricature, a footnote. But, there is real meat to Emerson. I read and I got it. But, it was a long time ago. It feels like another life.
This is what I was reminded of when I saw the photograph of his final resting place. And, therein is the clue.
Chief among Emerson's work, for me, is the essay Self-Reliance. You could run off and read it, but keep in mind my admonition that you need to acclimate yourself to his prose. Im fact, just for now, let's do what so many have done and distill him to a quote. For me, the ultimate quote:
Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. It is not without preestablished harmony, this sculpture in the memory. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray.
There it is; a mere handful of words that have kept me going in dark times such as these. You may find it dense, dry, or powerful. In any case, let me dive in and break it down:
Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none.
What Emerson is saying here is that when you see something interesting, it means something. Your point of view, your eye, has intrinsic value.
It is not without preestablished harmony, this sculpture in the memory.
He means that it's all part of a piece. Your take on the world is part of the world. Your ideas are part of what make the world what it is.
The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray.
This line has moved me to tears on not a few occasions. Even as I write about it now, it is with a tight and urgent excitement. (I take a deep breath) Not only is your vision meaningful, it is also unique and necessary. You have to be there to see what you see. And, you have to bear witness, in whatever way you know how; Write, take pictures, tell stores, give hugs, smile, clean houses, fix tacos, till the earth, have children. Testify! Your story, your life is the testament to a the way the heavens have aligned just for you. Only then is the harmony of life complete.
Now, go and read the essay. Understand it, I hope, or don't. When I feel I can never take another picture, when I feel I can't rise from my pillow, this is why I can.