🪞⚡ Emerson’s Self-Reliance - what does it mean to be yourself

Short essay discussion - read beforehand.

What this is This revives the cancelled September 27 Emerson event. Everyone says “be yourself” now. Usually they mean: be yourself in a way that photographs well, does not cost you anything, and still gets approved by the room. Emerson is more annoying than that. Self-Reliance is about self-trust, conformity, integrity, the fear of being misunderstood, and the strange pressure to become more acceptable than honest.

A few questions for the room

• “When does independence become integrity, and when does it become selfishness?” • “What does it actually cost to be misunderstood?” • “How much of your personality is conviction, and how much is adaptation?”

Reading Read Self-Reliance only. Original text: [https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2944/pg2944-images.html](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2944/pg2944-images.html) Modernized reading package: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wXfBQMEeXKnp14sw0HdEjFWSkkHgqzRE/view?usp=drivesdk](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wXfBQMEeXKnp14sw0HdEjFWSkkHgqzRE/view?usp=drivesdk)

When and where 🗓️ Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2026 🕒 Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM PDT 📍 Location: UBC Learning Exchange 612 Main St, Vancouver, BC V6A 2V3, Canada Meeting point: Main entrance at 612 Main Street. Please arrive 10 minutes before the event starts. Doors close 10 minutes after the start time. Cap: 20