Essay Philosophy: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Things

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Justice Moore
Mrs. Allen
AP English
27 March 2014

Justice’s Oceanic Vaultism

Self Discovery: An Evaluation of the Present, a Thought About the Future The necessities of life are slim you absolutely need four things but you want more. You need shelter, you need food and water, and you need clothes on your back. But like me and everyone else, we always want more. We think that we need lots of money, a laptop, a nice car, etc. We don’t need a majority of the things we use on a daily basis. Think of the Navajo living in the desert of Arizona and New Mexico. They do not live by malls, restaurants, and they barley live by each other. Most live in a 480 square foot trailer surrounded by a whole bunch of dirt and horses spread way out in the middle of the desert. Yes, they have cars, not porches and Range Rovers, but simple old tractors, quads or Toyotas to get the work around home done. “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit” (Abbey). The Navajo embrace so much the wilderness that when we drive through the Navajo nation we think, “how could they live here? There is no phone service, no shopping, no anything.” When in reality they have everything, they have all four necessities, nature, love and simplicity. In a way they are lucky, they aren’t brain washed to think they have to have a phone, or a car, or lots of money. “How we spend our days, is of course how we spend our lives” (Dillard). So why not spend our day with people we love doing things we love? You do not need any of those extra things to have a good life, now or in the future. When you are old and on the verge of dying are you thinking about the very first car you had and how expensive it was? Or are you thinking about all the places you have been, all of the things you have done, experiences, people you have met and memories you have? Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It is not the length of life, but the depth of life.” Meaning its not how long you live but how you have lived, your memories not money. You can be broke and still have had a great life with a ton of amazing memories and achievements. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals” (Thoreau). The purpose of life is to experience, live freely and simply, just like the Navajo. “Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best.” (Abbey). So why not live like the Navajo? They are not surrounded by the evil and corrupt but nature, openness, love. “You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down” (Dillard). Play outside and do new crazy fun things. Instead of living in a bustling city with tons of people, where everyone or many are just trying to be number one and will do wrong just to get there. Don’t you think if it were actually that bad the Navajo would leave? After all Thoreau said, “I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude.” The Navajo are living and experiencing just as much, even more than us, it is just in a different way, a simpler way. And what is the point of trying to be number one? To get all of the money in the world and then die so you can either be buried or cremated? Last time I checked you couldn’t use money or items when you are dead. What is the point to being ostentatious? What does it do for you? You will not remember the money and all of the items like you will friends and family. So what are we working toward? In truth we are all working toward happiness. “Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values” (Rand). We don’t want to be sad, and we think that money can make us happy because we can buy all of these great things. “I have learned that to be with those I like is enough” (Whitman). You need love, friendship, people
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