1. Journal Prompt Think about the times you’ve spent alone outside in nature. Think about the times you’ve spent alone outside in nature. Describe what that was like. Do you re-connect with yourself? Do you have clarity of thought? What things do you think about ? Describe what that was like. Do you re-connect with yourself? Do you have clarity of thought? What things do you think about ? What do you see, smell, hear, etc?

2. Question…. What might Bob Marley, The Dixie Chicks, Billy Joel, Mariah Carey, and Pearl Jam’s songs have in common????

3. Transcendental Thinking Bob Marley: “Get up, Stand Up” Bob Marley: “Get up, Stand Up” Beatles: “Here Comes the Sun” Beatles: “Here Comes the Sun” En Vogue: “Free Your Mind” En Vogue: “Free Your Mind” Bon Jovi: “My Life” Bon Jovi: “My Life” Jennifer Lopez: “I’m Real” Jennifer Lopez: “I’m Real” Destiny’s Child “I’m a Survivor” Destiny’s Child “I’m a Survivor” Dixie Chicks: “Wide Open Spaces” Dixie Chicks: “Wide Open Spaces” Garth Brooks: “We Shall be Free” Garth Brooks: “We Shall be Free” Tim McGraw: “Place in the Sun” Tim McGraw: “Place in the Sun” Creed: “Higher” Creed: “Higher” Louis Armstrong: “What a Wonderful World.” Louis Armstrong: “What a Wonderful World.”

4. Individualism Quotes

5. “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away” Henry David Thoreau

6. “To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.”

7. “Life is far too important a thing to ever talk seriously about.” Oscar Wilde

8. “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” Forrest Gump

9. “Life is what happens to you when you’re planning for the future”

10. Nothing is beneath you if it is in the direction of your life Ralf Waldo Emerson

11. “The life which is unexamined is not worth living.”

12. “Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide” “To be great is to be misunderstood.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

13. Key Thoughts of Transcendentalism Each person has individual powers and individual responsibilities in society and must stand up for what he believes in. Each person has individual powers and individual responsibilities in society and must stand up for what he believes in. Ultimate source of truth lies within ourselves Ultimate source of truth lies within ourselves Human spirit is reflected in nature Human spirit is reflected in nature All forms of being – God, man, nature – are all united in a shared universal soul, called the Oversoul. All forms of being – God, man, nature – are all united in a shared universal soul, called the Oversoul.

14. (cont.) Self-reliance outweighs external authority and blind conformity. Self-reliance outweighs external authority and blind conformity. Intuition and emotion is far superior to intellectual knowledge Intuition and emotion is far superior to intellectual knowledge

16. Transcendentalism Important Elements Nonconformity Nonconformity Self-Reliance Self-Reliance Free Thought Free Thought Confidence Confidence Importance of Nature Importance of Nature The divine soul or oversoul (We’re all one.) The divine soul or oversoul (We’re all one.) Aphorism: a brief statement that expresses a truth about life. Aphorism: a brief statement that expresses a truth about life.