Undaunted Joy #55

Rick Rubin and Ralph Waldo Emerson Mash Up

I often say, a little tongue in cheek, that my philosophy of life is mostly Jesus but if I am really honest, it is a little Transcendentalism too.

I was introduced to Transcendentalism my junior year of high school when I was searching for a way to make faith my own. The “philosophy” of Emerson, Whitman and Thoreau spoke to my sense of individualism and non-conformity. So, imagine my delight when I found a little chapter called “Self-Awareness” in Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being that seemed like a modern, Zen-ish version of my old literary friends.

Rubin writes,

As artists, our mission is not to fit in or conform to popular thinking. Our purpose is to value and develop our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Reminds me of Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote,

Insist on yourself; never imitate.

It is strange to live in a world which no longer values the non-conformist. But then I wonder, did society ever? Why would Emerson return to that theme so often if there were not many who sat and thought for themselves? Why would he encourage his audiences to find freedom outside conformity?

Emerson seemed to implore society, pressing upon one’s own manhood as a mark of nonconformity. To be truly human, to not waste one’s humanity, is to think for oneself.

Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore it if it be goodness. 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.

I am comforted by this. Emerson knew that even in the 19^th century some played with definitions. We must explore if it truly is goodness….or truth, beauty, love.  Are these just words that one slaps onto the end of an argument to seemingly prove a point. Are they empty? Void of definition? Or are they dripping with ripeness of what is lost?

Rick Rubin pairs non-conformity with self-awareness. He writes,

To be self-aware is to have the ability to tune in to what we think, how we feel, and how much we feel without interference. To notice how we notice the outside world.

I think the key is “how much we feel without interference.” Are we easily swayed? Or do we know who we are?

Rubin goes on to say,

Self-awareness is a transcendence.

I’d go further than that, and here is where my transcendentalism returns back to Jesus. When we are self-aware, when we know who we are, it is because we are surrendering to God. God is what is transcendent. When we know who we are; we know who we were created to be. We know the Creator.

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A little news.

This week my agent, Keely Boeving, sent out the proposal for Undaunted Joy: The Revolutionary Act of Cultivating Delight, to a dozen publishing houses. I hope to share good news with you soon and that you will continue to come along on this adventure as we intentionally look for joy in the world around us.