Greetings Readers,
Thank you for reading and listening this week! In case you missed it, we started our perennial habits course this week. Although the course is exclusively available to members, I provide complimentary access to anyone who cannot afford it. (There’s also a discount link for anyone who needs a little help.)
This week's Weekend Review includes a short contemplation on the notion of “Trusting Thyself” from the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with links to this week’s videos and meditations.
Until next week, be wise and be well!
🛋️ The Weekend Review
The weekend review consolidates the week’s meditations, videos, and podcasts. It allows us to revisit, review, and reflect on the art of living. Each installment also includes a short contemplation (from a notable work) with guided reflection questions to consider.
📿 “Trust Thyself”
This week’s contemplation comes from the American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882). In his essay Self-Reliance, Emerson observed,
To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,—that is genius. … Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, and the connection of events.
We must be a nonconformist, stressed Emerson. He believed that the integrity of our own mind is sacred. “Absolve you to yourself,” urged Emerson, “and you shall have the suffrage of the world.”
Emerson continued,
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is harder because you will always find those who think they know what your duty is better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own, but the great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
Contemplation Questions (Pick one or create your own!):
What does it mean to trust yourself?
How does one “trust thyself” in modern life?
📺 This Week’s Videos…
📌 This Week’s Meditations…
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Thank you for reading/listening this week; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
J.W.
P.S. If you’re interested in becoming a member but cannot afford it, feel free to request a complimentary membership or use this discount link.