At the end of class we talked about happiness and what makes
someone truly happy. When I first saw
Timothy Treadwell I thought he was crazy and wasting his life chasing
bears. Treadwell was not really doing
that much to help the bears, but he convinced himself he was, so he continued
to fight for them. I then realized that
Treadwell was doing what he wanted and did not care what other people thought
about him. He was happy and that was the
most important thing for him. I gained a
lot of respect for Treadwell because I have never seen someone chase their
dreams like he did. I then began to question
myself and think if I am doing what really makes me happy. I will spare everyone and avoid going into my
deep personal thoughts on my own happiness, but I think it is important that
people take a look at themselves. I have
started asking myself if I am truly happy doing whatever I am doing. If I am not happy with what I am doing I
wonder why I am doing what I am doing.
Treadwell asked himself if he was happy all the time and the answer was
always yes. I then asked myself the
other night if I was happy doing chemistry and it was a definite no. I now wonder if I should stop taking
chemistry or work harder to find happiness in chemistry.
I've always wondered how many layers that question can be on. For example, if any interviewer asked Treadwell, I am 99% sure he would say that he is more than happy enough. But, as we see his self loathing and bitter moments, I really wonder whether he could truly admit that to himself. He does continue this mission for many years, so that certainly adds to the side that claims he's really happy with his life.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I question whether we can really say that Treadwell stopped caring about the views of others. Treadwell is angry that the park service doesn't regard him as a hero. We see him bemoaning the fact that girls don't like him. He wants the world he's tried to leave behind to view him favorably. Additionally, while Treadwell may have superficially left behind the judgements of the human world, he makes it clear that it's important to him that the animals care about him as he tries to be part of their world.
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