“Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece. In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration.I am glad to the brink of fear.”
The ideas Emerson alludes to in the first chapter of Nature are ideas I am well acquainted with. I read Walden last year and have studied the concept of transcendentalism. My favorite excerpt from Emerson’s first chapter is around the end of the chapter. Emerson talks about nature’s impact on our moods. He explains that nature can make us both happy and sad in an instant. This idea especially speaks to me because sometimes I can be feeling fine and content then I step outside to a beautiful day and I feel euphoric. Simply the smell and view of nature can bring me great happiness and joy. This can also happen in dismal surroundings as Emerson explains. Nature’s affect is unexpected and involuntary. I would even take this concept further and connect it to music. One song can change your life. You can be in a terrible mood and suddenly hear a “poppin” song and feel a sudden burst of happiness. A song, like nature, can evoke many emotions in a person.
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