Respite in the woods

To his contemporaries, Emerson was a stable influence around which their lives revolved. He found them jobs, he joined them in ventures, he found them places to live, andhe gave them money. Those of his contemporaries with open minds would have understood this paragraph ("The Transparent Eyeball") and rejoiced in his desire to return to nature for a clensing of his psyche. He explains the tranquility of the surroundings would bath him in refreshing solitude and clear a cluttered mind so that he could leave the egotistical existence and become a "Universal Being".
It's possible that Emerson, with all of the tragedies in his life (at age 4 his older brother died, at age 8 his father died, at age 11 his sister died, at age 28 his 20 year old wife died, at age 39 his 2 year old son died) and even a man with his strong self-made personality would at times experience depression. At these times his thoughts coluld become overwhelming and a country break would revitalize him to return to being "an active soul" (his words) and would not change his theories of social life.