By Shelby Robinson, Wisdom Pills

Since the beginning of time human societies have frequently had someone in charge. From tribal chiefs to kings to democratic presidents, there has almost always been a ‘boss‘. Although comforting to some, there have also always been freethinkers — anarchists who swim against the current and desire to have the power to make decisions on their own.

As our human communities get larger and more diverse, laws, religious doctrines, and cultural conventions have started to unravel and become difficult to make sense of and apply to our lives. Although society often tells us that we should conform to something that fits within our governed mold, another option is embracing our uniqueness and using it as motivation to figure out what we really want, and what we really think is right for us.

Personal Independence

“My life is not an apology, but a life. It is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that forging your own path is the only way to be true to yourself and lead a happy life. He believed that if you make yourself into a clone of what society wants from you, not only does your life become “glittering and unsteady” but you also lose the ability to contribute anything to society. Society benefits from originality and innovation because people with those characteristics contribute new ideas and solutions to the world’s problems.

Emerson believed that although people might mock nonconformists for being ‘strange’ or out of the ordinary, hence writing “not for a spectacle,” nonconformists question society and end up changing it for the better. People like Plato, Einstein, and Mohammad Ali never fit into society — they break the mold instead. And by doing so, by being true to what they believe and refusing to conform, they inspire others to do the same.

Emerson also believed that accepting truths unquestioningly from the government or church is dangerous because every person is different and has a different “truth” that they must find for themselves. In Self Reliance, he says: “No government or church can explain a man’s heart to him & so each individual must resist institutional authority.” In order to grow as a person and be as great as we possibly can, we must take institutional ideas for granted and look inside for guidance.

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