Into the Wild- Alone

We talked in class about how going into the wild can be a freeing experience and a potential good one-if you are a professional survivalist that is. For me I would love to experience a life away from the city because it can be overwhelming to have a lot of expectations that I HAVE to live up to. Living in the wild seemed simple. But I know that I wouldn't be able to get rid of my old life completely. It is too ingrained into who I am to burn it. Being alone also has its appeal. To only worry about oneself and focus on Self, as Siddhartha would say, could lead me to an enlightenment like I think it did for Chris at the end of the movie. To finally find happiness and to be okay with how your life turned out is something that I believe most of us want to achieve and for Chris, going into wilderness by himself was how he accomplished it. But I don't think that I could be alone for that long. Although I consider myself an introvert, I have spent my entire life surrounded by people, some similar to me and others that are complete opposites. I have learned both directly and indirectly from plenty of people. And running away into a dangerous situation to get away from that seemed to me that Chris was trying to run away from himself. I believe that in the process of running away from the expectations of growing up in modern society and using a false identity and life only made it harder for him to discover himself. By the time that he passed away, I think his enlightenment was finally realizing that a decision that wasn't predetermined by his parents, a decision that he chose on his own. He was able to finally accomplish something that wasn't decided for him, so by the end he felt happy with himself to finally call himself by his right name.

We Still Haven't Figured This Out Yet!

This prompt took a long time for me to come up with a response to. But now, I think that what we still haven't figured out yet depends on the individuals. What we know and find out differs for every person. What I have figured out, someone else probably hasn't figured it out for themselves. Although this "answer" is very vague, it is honest. We all come from different backgrounds , families, communities, etc. It is extremely difficult to know for sure what "we" as a whole hasn't figured out yet.

How Do I Know What I Know??

This question is extremely hard to answer. When I think about it one can not be completely certain about something. But mainly what I know, is given to me by people or many sources for information such as movies, books, the news, etc. I either learn it, read it, or have experienced it. I use what I have learned to use in my own life. But when it really comes down to it, how do I really know that this is something I am sure about?? It is hard to know for sure. I think that the lack of certainty leads to the many questions that comes with living life. Like why do I do what I do? Plenty of questions arise all of the time, yet the answer is never really satisfying.  Sometimes when it comes to "knowing" what I know, it mostly comes from intuition, or a feeling that I am certain of something. But feeling it doesn't necessarily mean  that it is right. So does that mean knowing  isn't always right? So if it isn't right, then what is the  point of knowing something??

The Garden State

Reading the title "The Garden State", I instantly thought of the garden of Eden. But when it comes to the ending of the book,  Candide, the comparisons begin to build. In Candide, the characters made their ways through terrible situations and were constantly separated by those situations. Somehow, they were able to find themselves back to each other, although some seemed as though they did not learn from what they went through. But everyone is completely changed, Candide questions Pangloss and his philosophy, Pangloss does not really seem to truly believe his own philosophy, Cunegond is "ugly", and the other characters are different as well. When it comes to "The Garden State", for the characters of Candide, they saw the value in simplicity and hard work. They have to work hard to maintain this "garden" of theirs. After all that the characters has experienced, I believe their stuggles were neccessary for them to truly realize and appreciate what it really means for something to be the best of all possible worlds. Whereas for the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were completely ignorant of any outside influences while living in "The Garden State", and they did not have to work hard while living there. Yet I believe that they were happy. "The Garden State" overall, is the place (state of mind, a period/time in our lives, or a literal place) in which we experience happiness and contentment. Whether someone has started life in tht specific place or found it after living through terrible things although misery and sorrow still exists outside of someones personal garden state. But I do wonder if sorrow, pain, suffering, and all that is "bad" existed outside of the garden of Eden, and the only way for Adam and Eve to see this was by eating from the tree of knowledge. If not, then how was the snake able to exist, enter the garden, and deceive Eve?