Reading+Reflections

__Into The Wild Reflection #1 __ Chris McCandless once quoted, “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.” This quote really said something to me as it explains the true meaning of life. Chris McCandless was able to realize at the end of his great adventure in the Alaskan wilderness that all of the feats he experienced weren’t as meaningful or as incredible because he did not share his experiences with family or friends. I have been able to learn from this experience because when I am alone, my life isn’t as exciting or as interesting. However, when I share my time with friends and the family I love, I feel a sense of great meaning in my life. Nobody wants to be alone and the feeling of being alone for a very long period of time starts to hurt you mentally. When you are with people, you are able to share your positive and negative experiences with them. Humans are social beings and it is always necessary for people to communicate with each other. McCandless spent a great amount of time away from the people he loved and was able to come to the realization that the true meaning of life is to live your life with other people.

__ Into The Wild Reflection #2 __ Many of us sometimes have the dream of just going “into the wild” in order to get away from our crazy lifestyle and demanding society. McCandless believed that he could go “into the wild” and do whatever he wanted while not realizing that he was unprepared for the wild. He did not bring the proper supplies in order to be fit in the harsh Alaskan environment. His fantasy of living alone in the middle of Alaska clouded his logic and common sense. With his lack of common sense, McCandless was so unprepared that he lost his own life in the process. Generally, when I have fantasies of adventure, I loose my common sense. When I come up with a great idea, I get so excited that I forget what is actually humanly possible for me to achieve in my adventure. People always have the intent to go to the extreme, but as for some people like McCandless, the sky was the limit and he was not aware of what he was capable of achieving.

__ Into The Wild Reflection #3 __ When McCandless returned to Carthage to see his friend Wayne Westerberg after his adventure across the U.S., Chris had a hard time talking with people. During his adventure he was all alone and by himself with no other human being. It was hard for him to come back into society as he talked to his old friend Wayne. Even though he came back into society to see his friend, Chris still felt alone and not close to people because of all the time he spent isolating himself. When he isolated himself, he was unable to deal with the ways of modern society and he could not socialize with other people. I use to experience a similar problem Chris McCandless experienced. When I was in 8th grade, I felt that hard work was all that my life was centered around. I would wake up every morning and worry about school and do nothing but my homework or assignments. I would get so involved that I would isolate myself from my friends and family because getting my work done was the only thing I felt was important. Finally, I started to realize that you can’t isolate yourself from the world and you have to come out and be apart of it. When I did come out of having my head in the books, I talked to my friends and family, but I felt I didn’t belong. The reason I felt this way was because I was all alone for a good amount of time and I wasn’t use to the normal motions of everyday life in society. It was hard for me to come back and it felt like I was gone for a longtime in another world. Even though McCandless did feel this way about his position in society, he did nothing to fix it. Instead, he felt the best way to deal with it was to run back into the wild and not deal with reality. Chris didn’t face his problem, but made it worse by deciding to run away from it.

__ Into The Wild Reflection # 4 __ Chris McCandless was the hardest worker Wayne Westerberg ever saw in his life. Wayne explained that Chris set very high standards for himself by setting a goal in his mind and doing whatever he could to achieve that goal. He would never give up as Wayne saw Chris do every single dirty job Wayne offered for him in South Dakota. Chris would always finish what he started and had a strong work ethic which helped him achieve anything his heart desired. Eventually, his hard work would lead him into an adventure of surviving alone in the wild for a short period of time. I am an extremely hard worker and I have a very similar personality to Chris. I have the tenacity, drive, and motivation to achieve whatever obstacle lies ahead of me everyday. Whenever I start something, I never give up and always finish. The thought of failure is something I can’t deal with due to my desire to achieve great goals. I usually set the bar very high sometimes and I could be considered an over- achiever. On the other hand, I will never finish a day in my life without finishing the work that needs to be done. I feel that it’s my duty and job to finish my work in order to get ready for the next day ahead.

__ Into The Wild Reflection #5 __ McCandless went into the wild to face the Alaskan wilderness with very few supplies. Even though some critics may think this was very foolish and not well thought out, I believe McCandless was able to find something significant when he went into the wild. Without even thinking, he got rid of his car, driver’s license, and any tangible pieces of material that symbolized who he was. He even purposely forgot his own name and his family so that he could find his true identity, the indentity of nature. Chris new who he was and where his standing was in society, however he wanted to find his identity in a different way. Chris grew his hair out, changed his name to “Supertramp”, and decided to leave all that was in his past behind him. It was a new beginning in his life when he realized a new person was growing inside him. He wanted to find who he was in the wilderness and did not want to deal with the identity he had in society. Like McCandless, I have always wondered what it would be like if we did not abide by or go with the flow of society. If we got rid of every tangible thing we own, life would be a much better place. We would not have any desire for things and nobody would be jealous at each other. Without materialistic things, we could easily find our true identity by just living everyday and not worrying about what we have and don’t have. We would find our true identity by being ourselves and not worrying about the things we own. We would be much happier off finding ourselves in the nature that surrounds us all. __ Into The Wild Reflection # 6  __ McCandless was very different from Muir and Thoreau because McCandless went into the wild looking for himself and who he truly was. Muir and Thoreau went into the wilderness for the sake of understanding, knowledge, and curiosity about the world as a whole. McCandless paid too much attention towards himself and not enough about the land that surrounded him. McCandless would have survived longer in the wild than he did by following Muir and Thoreau’s plan towards living in the wild. Muir and Thoreau survived because they got to know the land that was around them and was able to understand the principles of biodiversity and wildlife. They understood how to give back to nature and how nature gave benefits back to them in return. They were better prepared than McCandless because they did not make too rash decisions in their endeavors with the wild. When McCandless made these quick and rash decisions to how to live in Alaska, nature ended up “striking back” on him with overpowering force. I think what McCandless had in mind to go into the wild was a great idea and challenge for him to undertake, but he was not smart enough to think. He needed to know survival skills and everything about the land he was going to stay in before he got there. If he was able to do his research and have a game plan for taking on the wild, he would have been able to survive as long as he wanted. Sometimes when I am in a situation like McCandless, I don’t stop and think about what I should do before I act. My passion and excitement overwhelms me and blocks my common sense. On the other hand, when I am able to control my emotions, I am able to think clearly and come up with a plan before rushing into my decision to act. All McCandless had to do, I believe was to get his emotions under control and then he would have been able to make good decisions for his stay in the wild.