Everyone is a product of the past. The past surrounds us in the way architecture is constructed, words are formed, music is composed, and art is created. Without the past, we would lose an essential part of who and what we are as a society and individually. This doesn't mean that the past dictates our futures but rather that we are the sum of a cultural past that makes us entirely unique. The whole idea of being a product of the Enlightenment versus the Romanticism is baffling when it comes to my personal opinion. We are the sum of all the parts of our past and present. I doubt I would be who I am without both of these eras. But if I based the whole idea on the values of each era, I would be decidedly a product of the Romanticism.

The values I relate to are ones like the adoration towards nature and the natural look of things. I can without a doubt say that one of my favorite places is in the world is a place I have gone camping with my family since I was an infant. There has always been something personal about being in nature and I find a great deal of solace in surrounding myself with it. My elder brother would run off chasing some deer or rabbit that he came across while I was content to lay on a rock and stare up at the tops of the trees, imaging a world of my own.

One of the other things that I found really relatable about Romanticism is the personal nature of religion and the afterlife. I have always been the type of person that believed I would get a better religious experience outside of a church's walls instead of in them. For me, it seems like I can create a better understanding of my place in the whole religious scheme of things on my own because I won't be bogged down by everyone else's experiences that overpower my own. The afterlife is something that I think everyone grapples with at some point in their lives and the idea -- the belief that there is something to look forward to after this is what makes living bearable most days. It's easy to lose hope when you think there is nothing to hope for.

I find myself caught between two eras that have brought about marvelous beauty and wondering whether it matters which one you are a product of. Truthfully, many of the ideals from each era can be found throughout the history of mankind and therefore, wouldn't it make more sense to call us a product of our cultural history? Everything begins somewhere and once it begins, it becomes entwined in every facet of past, present, and future. We are nothing without our pasts for they make us who we are.

^-- Blogging: a demonstration of self expression, which is a product of the Romanticism.

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