Friendship Experiment

Today, I learned that Emerson’s definition of friendship seems to agree significantly with my perception of friends. During the morning, I met with a number of friends that I have known since eighth grade. Later in the day, I had dinner with the family of one of my best friends. I found that at both times, I was able to shed my “undermost garments.” While having dinner with my friend’s family, I felt comfortable with sharing all of my opinions on everything, including school, and my ideas for improving everything that we do together. I told him about activities I do that I had never told him about before. It was harder to be this open during the morning, as the large number of people made it impossible for me to be entirely open.
When with my friends, I could passively embody the Emersonian idea of friendship. Over the course of four years, I have been able to nurture the relationships with these friends every Saturday, in accordance with Emerson’s idea of effort necessary to maintain a friendship. After knowing them for about a year or two, I met with them more frequently in order to have fun and be more acquainted with them. Unfortunately, I have also seen the truth to this theory in the deterioration of some of the friendships that I have not carefully maintained. At the end of eighth grade, I met a family from this group who immediately became one of my first best friends from this group that I meet with every Saturday. We maintained a close friendship for at least a year and I was very honest with him. Unfortunately, however, inconvenience among other factors made it impossible for me to see him frequently, resulting in slight deterioration of our friendship. Although we are still good acquaintances, he is not an “Emersonian” friend as I am not as open with him as I used to be.
I disagree with Emerson when he claims that it is impossible to have a large number of real friends who are not “frost work.” After four years, I have developed a strong relationship and mutual trust with my friends. Although I have not been able to completely maintain all of the relationships I have, at least five of the people in this group are my “Emersonian” friends, which is greater than the number that Emerson suggests in his essay. I would definitely say, however, that I have numerous “frost work” relationships, especially from a camp that I attended this summer. Although I was extremely friendly and honest with most of the people at this camp, I have not been able to maintain these relationships due to distance.
In order to really be an “Emersonian” friend, one should not specifically try on one day to be inconsistent with one’s normal self. As long as one puts effort in maintaining one’s friendship, one will passively be able to enjoy a friend’s company.

My Nature Experiment

At 7:30, I decided I needed a break after a tough day. I went outside into my backyard. I did not set any very specific parameters so that I could see nature without seeing through a smoke screen. I did not bring a watch or any other modern devises to add undesired structure to my experience.

As I walked outside, I learned that Emerson is absolutely correct when he says that beauty can always be found in nature. As I walked outside, my eyes adjusted to the darkness as if a dim light had been turned on in a room. I examined the surrounding bushes with their long, dark branches and a nearby swing-set from my childhood. As I examined my surroundings, I learned, in accordance with Emerson, that it is necessary to scrutinize one’s surroundings and change one’s perception to experience the full beauty of nature. After lying down on the ground and expunging more of my worldly thoughts, I started hearing nature. At first, I could only hear the drone of occasional planes in the distance. After a small amount of time, however, I was able to hear crickets and other small animals and learn, in accordance with Emerson, that I was sharing nature with other beings. I even heard the rushing of water in the distance from a source I could not possibly discern. Although I could not see the stars above me, my vision of the palm tree above me continued to get crisper with passing time. As I was able to isolate myself more and more from society and my thoughts as I lied down, my senses detected nature at far away distances and dimmed the manmade objects in my vicinity, including my swing-set from childhood.

I agree with Emerson’s notion that nature is seen through the plastic perception of one’s eye. This principle, however, can be generalized through other senses. The feeling of the grass below me and the crisp silence contributed most to my perception of nature’s beauty in the darkness of my own backyard.