Best of Week: The Truth

            If you walk around Glenbrook South High School on one of the passing periods and look at the ground, you will notice that every male is wearing Jordan sneakers with high socks and every female is wearing Tom’s shoes or Ugg boots. Do they actually like Ugg boots or are they wearing it because society tells them to and they are afraid to be different? Consumerism has taken control of our individuality making it hard to define our truth and be ourselves.

Truth is a word our society has lost a firm grasp of.  The idea of being honest to ourselves and expressing our uniqueness has really diminished. As a result of social media and the highly competitive nature of society it is very hard for people to be truthful. Many people are not expressing their own individuality and often creating an illusion of his or herself. The growth of social media and consumerism gives people an illusionary view on life and principles while the highly completive nature of society makes people dishonest.

            As a result of social media and consumerism, we have lost hold of our own individuality. People today are creating an ideal illusion of the person who they want to be and not expressing their own uniqueness. Social media like the internet have increased the process making it harder for people to get a hold of the “truth”. Magazines and websites of beauty products portray beauty and idealism in a single mathematical way with a certain ratio of body, face, rack, and ass that no real human can acquire. A golden ratio of what makes someone beautiful. Especially teens try to portray and become these ideal people. They do not act their own uniqueness, but by how society wants them to be. They create an illusionary view that all people have to look and have the golden ratio in order to be beautiful. People try to create an illusionary persona of the person they want to be.

            Not only does social media and consumerism make it hard for people to grasp the truth, but also the competiveness of society makes it difficult. Do people actually like joining Key Club and Interact to get the satisfaction of helping others or are they doing it because society tells them to help people? I believe, most people do it their own selfishness and do it in order to add on a college resume. I am sure if you ask someone to join Interact in order to help feed the needy they would most likely not join the club. If you tell someone else to join Interact because they will be able to write on your college resume they are more likely to come. The competitive nature of society makes a lot of people dishonest. People should want to help the people who are struggling for the benefit of putting a smile on a strangers face instead of doing it for the college application.  

            The growth of technology and the more competitive the world is becoming is resulting in a more difficult journey to find truth in ourselves. Many people are creating delusions and ideal personas of themselves to satisfy what society wants. They are also taking action not out of sincerity but for own selfishness. If people find the truth and are honest to his or herself, more people will stop living for themselves and start living for others. You only truly live if you live for others. 

Connection: Gatsby and Farnsworth

Writing my college essays, I am forced to think about my achievements in life and my upbringing. The college admission process forces me to think critically on my life and examine myself as a human being. As I reminisce and ponder these questions I am a lot like the character Gatsby from the novel by F.Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, and like the visionary Philo T. Farnsworth. Gatsby and Farnsworth both failed because they were too prideful, and did not have a clear grasp of reality.

            Both Farnsworth and Gatsby were way to prideful, as a result, it lead them to their downfall. Gatsby demonstrate pride through his wealth and power. Gatsby throws enormous parties at his mansion to demonstrate the wealth and to show the power he has. One scene, Gatsby throws his expensive clothing to impress Daisy to show his pride. As a result of his pride, he created a grand illusion of himself and lost hold of reality. Farnsworth, like Gatsby, was too prideful because of this; he did not accept any help from other people. When Sarnoff asked Farnsworth to join his company he decline because of his pride. If he had joined the RCA he would have died a happier man. He would have had sufficient funds to pursue his dream and get credit for his work. Farnsworth and Gatsby got too caught up on his pride he lost his grasp on reality.

            Farnsworth and Gatsby lost hold of reality. They both believed in the romanticized and fantasy life. Gatsby got caught up on his false illusion of himself and Daisy which lead him to his downfall. Gatsby thought of Daisy as this idealistic, perfect person. He thought he felt short of Daisy’s expectations because of this he created an enormous illusion of him. Because Gatsby’s persona was so big, Daisy felt she had felt short of his expectation. Farnsworth believed in the romantic notion that he would get full credit for his work and that life is fair. Farnsworth believed in this romantic notion of life and invention, as a result, he never searched for help and remained stubborn. Gatsby and Farnsworth delusional ideals caused them their downfall.

            I feel like I am a lot like Gatsby and Farnsworth. Like both people, I am very stubborn and not open to many ideas. I am stubborn because I have a lot of pride in myself. Any activity that I do, I believe I am the best at it. I do not take other people’s ideas for consideration and I rarely ask for help. I try to solve problems by myself. I also have a romanticized illusion of life and myself. What I have learned from my seventeen years of life is that I rarely show people my true identity. I create an ideal illusion of myself like Gatsby. I believe life is fair and that I can achieve anything. By studying the character Gatsby, and Farnsworth, I learned that I need to put hard work to achieve my goals and seek for help if I am struggling.

            

Captured Thought: What is Happiness?

This past week, as I look back at my old essays from junior year, I stumbled upon a word that I have used many times, happiness. The essay I wrote was about the American Dream and how people pursue the American Dream and their happiness. Throughout the essay I must have used the word nearly fifty times. As I read the essay, I can see my opinions on happiness have changed since last year. I have thought a lot about the word happiness and what it means to me. The Declaration of Independence states our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but what does it mean to pursue happiness?  What makes me strangely happy?  Throughout the week, these questions were constantly throbbing in my head.

How did our founding fathers know to put the words “pursuit of happiness” into the document? Last year, I believed that pursuing did not always guarantee your happiness. Everyone has the right to pursue their happiness, but that does not guarantee your success in reaching it.  People have a god given right to seek out things that make them happy.  If people do not achieve their destination it results in their downfall and depression.  What I realized now is that it is not the destination to your happiness but the journey. You have to stop and look around and take in all the beauties the world has to offer.  If they only pursuing that single dream they will miss out.

All my life I have searched for a single goal that would me incredibly happy. An ultimate dream that would be a life changer and something I can pursue.  I believed that pursuing that dream would be the only way of finding true happiness.  As I learned from this year, people are only happy when they are creating something.Many professions like doctors, engineers, and teachers are able to create making there jobs more enjoyable. They are able to create smiles, materials, and expand the knowledge of students.  All my life I believed in order to be happy I need to pursue a singular grand goal that would create an ultimate happiness. Now I realized when I create I will truly happy. Only focusing on a singular dream will distract me from experiencing life.

I learned that it is the little things in life that makes me happy. When the Declaration of Independence talks about pursuing happiness it is not a singular goal or dream that we have to pursue in order to achieve happiness but being able to have to freedom to experience all the little things in life. The little things  like eating a creamy irresistible twinkie or just loafing.Although the definition of happiness varies from people to people, if people stop and admire the tiny things in life, they will certainly be happier than before.