The Realization of Self-Reliance

Things have been blurry for The Under Twin ever since he split from his sister. For their entire lives, The Twins have always been considered "mistakes" because they were double-yolked at birth, so being separated from his twin made him feel even more isolated and scrambled. When you live your entire life as a pair, in the face of odds, it's not easy feeling whole when you're alone.

What does it feel like to transcend separation? Have you ever wanted to see solitude from a higher place? The Under Twin wanted to understand self-reliance so he visited a magical white house in Concord.

The magical white house once belonged to a great poet named Ralph. He believed magic existed between people and nature. As The Under Twin poked around the yard, he remembered Algernon teaching him how to listen to the wind of his soul. So he did. In a very quiet, whipsery kind of way, this is what he heard...

Your isolation must not be mechanical, but spiritual, that is, must be elevation. At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with empathetic trifles… But keep thy state; come not into their confusion.

The secret of fortune is joy in our hands.

Insist on yourself. Never imitate.

Your goodness must have some edge to it - else it is none.

Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul.

Power… resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state… This one fact the world hates, that the soul becomes.

Jumping off Ralph's chimney, into the wind, felt like a rush because The Under Twin had come to realize a few things about himself while visiting the magical white house: he knew he was going to find his sister and apologize; he knew he wasn't a mistake just because he was born double-yolked; he knew he was going to avoid the hobgoblin of little minds; he knew he was going to live in the swift, summary way of boys... who are sure of a dinner.

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All italicized references from this post are direct quotes from the timeless classic essay, Self-Reliance. Read it.