By Julia Lima, TIWP Student

imagine a world run by the most conscious and humble transcendentalists. imagine a world where the iconic Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “trust thyself” was the anthem of our people. “oh, mr. Emerson,” i would say. “thank goodness you’re here. the world was just about falling apart without you.” then i’d tell him about the slaughtered forests and tyrannical society and how our sense of intuition had gone with the wind. i’d tell him about how desperate and confused and consumed the people of our world are. i’d tell him, “why, we’ve barely got enough nature left to worship!” i’d tell him about how peace is a nonexistence treasure in our world, and how we’ve all created our own false treasure maps. “oh, mr. Emerson,” i’d say. “won’t you stay a while? won’t you help us? we need your wisdom and your courage. we need a world run by you, run by those not afraid to step into the woods and be young again. we need to be the eyes planted in the divinity of our earth. we need to throw away our treasure maps and find the path in the dirt beneath our feet. won’t you help us, mr. Emerson?”