Being an Emersonian friend is a tough task. I have yet to meet a person who is truly an Emersonian friend 100 percent of the time. The reaction of the general public would be "resisted, and all men [would] agree he [is] mad". Here are some quotes from Emerson's "Friendship" essay that I thought I would give a go. 1. "A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud." Being a friend is always being honest. Not even white lies are allowed to spare others' feelings. 2. "We parry and fend the approach of our fellow man by compliments, by gossip, by amusements, by affairs. We cover up our thought from him under a hundred folds." Not only can you not lie, but casual "filler" conversation is not permitted. If what your saying is not important, don't say it and you won't be hiding from putting yourself out there. 3. "The other element of friendship is tenderness." This comes down to being kind. If you are a true friend, you simply are tender towards your friends. But remember: it must be with sincerity.
So, basically, throughout my day as an Emersonian friend, not much changed. I started out by telling myself to be honest and try not to talk so much. It was really hard. Many situations arose where it was super akward. For example, on my way to a class, I tried not to make conservation with the people who I was walking with, as those kinds of conversations are "filler" speech. If I were the person I was talking with, I would think of myself as rude. Emerson's concept of friendship is idealist. I think it's impossible to be an Emersonian friend to everyone. For me this experiment felt forced. I've decided that I like those "filler" conversations and I am for the most part an honest person. Emerson suggests that we always be deep with others, but I think there is just as much of a need for entertainment and lightheartedness. This is what I love about my life: I can act like a complete idiot around my friends and feel alright about it. So...Emerson has a point, but if everyone was an Emersonian friend, I don't think the world would feel right. I think things the way they are.
About Me
- Nina Francis
- My name is Nina Caroline Francis. Some people think my middle name is Paco because my dad wanted to name me after Paco De Lucia, a classical Spanish guitarist, if I was a boy. I try to live every day with my eyes open to the world on a quest to find myself within the lives of others. I look to the future and day dream while trying to keep in tune with the present, which doesn't happen very often. Sometimes it's hard for me to focus. My mind is constantly jumping from thought to thought, each one unique but loosely connected to the others. I try to capture my life through music so I can look back on the past, learn from it, and hopefully connect with others.
1 comment:
I agree with the quotes you chose and how you interpreted them. I think in our society today having no conversation fillers would be almost impossible. Think about being at a party and you are just meeting a person and you ask the basic questions of "The weather is _____ today. Don't you think?" or you think of something small you both have in common. It would be hard to go about everyday life with out those fillers. Same with white lies. I think that to some extent they can be good and to some its bad. You when telling one you could be saving a person's feelings but later on it could hurt.
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