Emerson’s “Transparent Eyeball”

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Chapter I. Nature,” he gives himself the title of the “transparent eyeball” (556). I think that in that moment, Emerson is engrossed in the calm beauty of the natural world around him. Instead of taking in complex details as many other adults do, he looks for the simplicity. When experiencing this beautiful serenity built by God by himself, he realizes his current emotions are more powerful and meaningful than anything he could feel in the world built by man kind. By sitting in the wilderness and basking in the beauty as the “transparent eyeball,” he does not have to put any effort into creating his own happiness because nature has do that for him.

What I found most intriguing about the passage is that it made me realize that the simplest of things can mean so much. We are all surrounded by new inventions and technology every day that we hardly ever see anything for what it truly is. Our buildings on campus hold the spots where beautiful trees and animals once resided before we came along and removed them. Now if we are given the chance to see an area of true nature, especially near such a large city, we should have more appreciation for it instead of writing it off as wasted space.

Before moving to college, I lived in Savannah, Georgia for all of my life. We lived in a beautiful neighborhood that only had maybe 20 houses total. Within the neighborhood there were tons of trails to ride our golf carts on through the woods, down our airstrip (we had a private landing strip for our neighbors’ private planes) and next to all of the lakes surrounding our houses. When I was in elementary and middle school, I would wake up almost every Saturday morning and ride the golf cart through the trails, just to enjoy the beautiful views. Everywhere I drove had a uniqueness and calmness that could not be matched. Sometimes I would stop and sit while the sun shown and the wind blew around me. I loved it when I was a kid and still occasionally ride around like that when I am home visiting for either the weekend or holiday breaks.