My Blog
Emerson's Essays
Thu, November 30, 2006 - 2:24 AM
I have been quoted as saying captious things about travel; but I mean to do justice. I think there is a restlessness in ouir people, which argues want of character.
All educated Americans, first or last, go to Europe;-perhaps because that's their mental home, as the invalid habits of this country might suggest.
An eminent teacher of girls said, 'The idea of a girl's education is, whatever qualifies them for going to Europe.'
Can we never extract this tape-worm of Europe from the brain of our countrymen? One sees very well what their fate must be. He that does not fill a place at home, cannot abroad. He only goes there to hide his insignificance in a larger crowd. You do not think you will find anything there which you have not seen at home? The stuff of all countries is just the same. Do you suppose there is any country where they do not scald milkpans, and swaddle the infants, and burn the brushwood, and broil the fish?
What is true anywhere is true everywhere.
And let him go where he will, he can only find so much beauty or worth as he carries.
Of course, for some men, travel may be useful.
1 Comment |
add a comment |
|
Thu, November 30, 2006 - 3:39 AM
Interesting...
I can't remember how we ended up friends on tribe, but this essay struck a chord with me.
Emerson's own experience should be invoked here. He had the Harvard Education, was very satisfied with his intellectual circle, to put it simply he found his niche close to where he was born. He toured "The Continent" as it was the custom to do in those days, but after all lived very happily and successfully in Concord, MA with his wife and family. Emerson glosses the term "mental home" offhandedly, as if scornful of those for whom proximity to their ancestors does not suffice. But I can attest that seeking a mental home, or shall we say spiritual home, is a brave and worthy cause, especially if there is a language barrier involved. I feel deeply within that my spiritual home is most decidedly NOT in the SF Bay Area, where I have lived for the past 12 years. My family lives in Boston, but neither do my sympathies lie there. For sensitive folks, the place where one finds oneself matters a great deal. I felt stifled in all the places I've lived in the US, like something was holding me back from being the person I wanted to be. All of Emerson's talk of the power of the individual, self-reliance, and all that notwithstanding, if you find yourself somewhere where people don't appreciate your particular brand of individuality, seeking a new place is not only an option, but a necessity. Today we have the luxury of being able to work almost anywhere, thanks to the internet (and this will probably be the only reason I declare thanks to the internet). Our familial and educational institutions don't "care" as much about what happens to us when we mature out of them as they did in Emerson's day. We are more alone now that ever, thus finding a place that feels like home is now more than ever a necessity. The majority of travellers want a brief, harmless experience of "difference," a few photos to add to their album, and the right to say they've "been" somewhere. But there are still those of us who conscientiously seek something and actually find it far from "home." |
