What is the true meaning of transcendentalism and where does it come from? Ralph Waldo Emerson is the reason transcendentalism sprouted from nothing. As a child he was always obedient and followed the steps his mother and aunt had shown him. Then, in his twenties, he received a job from the Second Church in Boston, resigned a few years later, and began taking steps toward transcendentalism. Now, decades later, his ideas and thoughts are still popular and used every day. The true definition of transcendentalism begins with Emerson and his individual thoughts on nonconformity with society. Transcendentalism arrived around 1820-1830, with Ralph Waldo Emerson named father, the movement of individualism, intuition, inspiration, idealism, and imagination. From patiently obeying his parents, to making decisions on his own, Emerson's childhood was a beautiful one. Busy. When he was only eight years old, Emerson's father died. His aunt Moody then took on the role of father in the family, and established strict steps in the direction Ralph would take with his future. She kept the family in line and busy, putting them through school and keeping the house tidy. Emerson's Aunt Moody was his most powerful influence throughout the rest of his childhood. The first step in building Emerson's career was to go to school, so he entered Harvard at the age of fourteen. His educational experience accompanied him through adolescence and, in his mid-twenties, he was still following the path that his mother and aunt had laid out for him. Emerson had been accepted for a job at Second Church in Boston. He worked in that ministry for several years, and then his transcendentalist side began to appear. Emerson's imaginative and independent... in the center of the card... him. His middle-aged life had then kindled the fire of his transcendentalist personality. The most influential pieces written by Emerson that are still looked at and a source of inspiration to other transcendentalists, were Self-Reliance and Nature. The idea of ​​transcendentalism began around 1820-1830 when Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote his ideas about personal development, nonconformity, and the individual thought process. Works Cited http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu.edu/authors/emerson/ http ://www.age-of-the-sage.org/transcendentalism/emerson/ralph_waldo_emerson.html http://www.thegreatcourses.com /tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=2598 http://www2.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/17841865/lit/emerson.htm http://transcendentalism.tamu.edu/literaryworks http: //www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/ralph_waldo_emerson.html https: //www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3460613-nature