Emerson's nature :]

When I read the piece Nature by Emerson, I absolutely loved it, however there were two passages that really stuck out and they are something I can relate to. “The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and heart of the child. The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.” This said to me that there is something in the eyes and mind of a child that sees the worth and the beauty out of everything. As the child grows older, that weakens and people take things like nature for granted. To appreciate the world and see the true beauty, you must keep that “heart of the child” and never let it go. Children have a natural way of seeing the good in everything, and thinking things are truly fascinating, this is something that Emerson (and I) think should be kept. A child might gaze at the sunset every night and think it’s the most beautiful thing he/she has ever seen. However, as this child grows older, he/she learns that the sun will always rise and set, and that there’s nothing new or exciting about it. Even while growing older, you have to appreciate the little things that you take for granted, because those are the truly natural things, with the natural beauty that is often neglected to be noticed.
The second passage that really spoke to me is, “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. To a man laboring under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness in it.” Nature and the spirit are two natural things- no one knows how they got there, and no one can be rid of it completely. The spirit is a natural thing, and it must be kept and not stressed or changed. I believe that everyone was born with a naturally good spirit, however some spirits get corrupted, and bad people come out of the process. The spirit is different for everyone, therefore has different colors of representation. Some people’s spirits are pink, some orange, some green, but they’re natural nonetheless. As for the second part of this passage, I believe it means that you need to keep your god spirit, and not corrupt it yourself with stress or outside influences. Sadness has a large effect on the spirit, but sadness is caused by yourself. You always need to keep a positive attitude so you don’t wallow in your own sadness, because it won’t help anything. Everyone is born with a natural spirit of their own colors and personalities, but only you can stay optimistic and free from evil indulgences, and that is what will keep the natural child-like beauty.