SELF-RELIANCE: THE ULTIMATE REBELLION

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Social media has many problems, but one of the lesser talked about is tribal affiliation.

To build a following, one must pick a lane and dare not swerve less the mobs of internet trolls attack!

From music, movies and pop culture to of course politics and religion, if one presents themselves as one way on social media, then heaven forbid changes their mind, the mob loses it!

However, If we let the mob dictate our beliefs about what we post or more importantly who we are, then we lose our identity.

In 1841, Ralf Waldo Emerson addressed tribalism and the importance of thinking for yourself in his essay Self-Reliance and it is more relevant today than ever.

“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.” —Emerson

Easier said than applied when a few keyboard strokes can attack your beliefs causing you to shut down and question your own mind. However this next line Emerson wrote in 1841 is 100% applicable today: “My life is for itself and not for a spectacle.”

Damn. Yes!

Emerson argues that yes, we should hold tight our basic values, but also that we should question everything, often. That consistency in our beliefs over time may not be such a good thing, and that we should be confident about our stances today, for tomorrow we can change our minds.

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.—’Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.’

To be great is to be misunderstood.”

Emerson is referring to the ability to be open minded, and willing to change your opinion. Something modern society preaches with empty platitudes on bumper stickers like, love everyone, & coexist.

Yet, if your politics or preferred flavor of ice cream doesn’t align, you’re the devil.

This isn’t new. Emerson wrote, “Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say ‘I think,’ ‘I am,’ but quotes some saint or sage.”

Hey, I’m quoting now. 😉 Because Emerson writes a helluva lot better than I, and yet even in 1841 says what I think about in a much more eloquent and influential way.

More bangers from Emerson’s essay on Self-Reliance:

The lesson I took from Self-Reliance is to be unapologetically yourself, at all times. Do not bend to the mob. Live true to yourself and you will be truly free as a person. It is the ultimate rebellion.

🔥

Can Music Help You Live Your Best Life?

Purpose, Fatherhood, Live Performance & More | Ascent Life Podcast

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Cheers, and here’s to living an Ascent Life! 🚀
- R. Brandon Long