I have just watched the wonderful movie “Into the wild” and it made me rethink of my behavior and go deep inside the thoughts and beliefs that make me ME!
Well, for those who haven’t seen that movie yet I promise I won’t be a spoiler by giving you the key scenes of it. It is based on a nonfiction narrative of the post-collegiate wanderings of a young Virginia man, who gets rid of himself from his friends, family, and possessions in search of a greater spiritual knowledge and communion with nature.
In the quest for his promised land he goes to live deep into the woods in Alaska. In his pilgrimage Chris changes his name and habits in order to check how far a man can stay from society.
After seeing the movie I realized the key point was the fact that the blindness of being so much connected to material things and social bonds barely lets us see what life really is about. I strongly believe social bonds and consumerism are the things to blame because they are what make us become what we socially are, do what we do through buying things we may never need indeed. In a deeper level our society measures how powerful we are based on how much we have. Also, to some extent, what we have and the social connections we make define our sense of belonging. Social and family bonds are sometimes tied to fake pleasure and the feeling of possessing helps developing the sense of belonging. It creates an illusionary bubble made of a thin layer of myths, beliefs and habits. Most of us can’t see it and many will never be able to escape from it. In our quest for happiness sometimes we dedicate long hours in our lives to people we barely know. In addition to that, we all have many objects we bought that we may have used once or twice. Being socially accepted and consumerism are key points of our society and we are so knotted in that process that it seems to be life itself.
To be or not to be?
Essentially, being is much more important than possessing. However, many people are not able to distinguish the differences implied in that and then, they are stranded in their own lives. On a daily basis we are being told that consuming is the most appropriate way of living and that may not be the truth. It is hard to be exposed and lured by advertisement and all the fuss around new products daily released. We might have problems on identifying what we really need and what is just trend. Take your time and look around yourself. Check the items you have scattered around
and think about the need you have of them. Think of the non-material things you spent your time on last month and see how relevant they are. Breathe in and remember the moments you spent with people you don’t enjoy and doing things you don’t like. How interesting will your life be if you did not have the possessions you do? Were you not living in your expensive house how interesting will you be for other people? How significant will it be if your fancy car was taken away from you? How much does your happiness depend on the things you have despite the person you are? What is the ground where your happiness is built on?
As this is a blog for those interested in English, I would recommend the reading of the following book that would allow you go further in the search for your own truth:
*Boris Pasternak: Doctor Zhivago
*Daniel Dafoe: “Robinson Crusoe”
*Henry David Thoreau: Walden
*Jack London: The Call of the Wild
*Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace
*Lord Byron: “There Is a Pleasure in the Pathless Woods”
*Louis L’Amour: Education of a Wandering Man
*Primo Levi: “Bear Meat” (short story)
*Robinson Jeffers: “Wise Men in Their Bad Hours”
*Jack Kerouac: “On the road”
You may also find movies based on those books. Have a nice search!