Take Away Money, What do You Have?

 It is commonly said that, "money cannot buy your happiness," yet oftentimes society sure does make it feel that way. In the age of social media, it is nearly impossible to unlock your phone and not see someone flaunting the myriad of ways in which their life appears better than yours - whether it be their car, their seemingly endless travel, their fashion, the list goes on. With this being said, this constant influx of 'superiority' it is often hard to not subconsciously compare yourself to those you see on social media. These individuals appear to be happy, maybe I will be to when I achieve similar goals? This 21st century warped way of thinking often causes individuals to reach for a finish line that just keeps getting further and further away. 

While many fall victim to this thought process, there are few that are still able to find joy in other worldly pleasures. Two major examples of which being presented in Dunbar's "The Dilettante: A Modern Type" and "The Garret". For example, a crucial segment in the first text reads as follows, "He does, because his love is strong, but not, oh, not for money" (Dunbar, Lines 8-9). Similarly, Dunbar repeats this theme in "The Garret" in stating, "I only have one broken chair, but then, there's plenty of fresh air" (Dunbar, Lines 10-12). In saying this, both of these speakers highlight their ability to love their lives, and themselves, without concerning themselves with wealth and prestige. This sense of self-love presented in these two aforementioned pieces continually reminded me of the film, Eat Pray Love, which was released in 2010. 

The novel, turned movie, follows the life of a woman named Liz Gilbert and her pursuit to find a sense of happiness she had yet to acquire. As the movie progresses, Gilbert is finally able to find herself without money - taking a year off from work to travel, getting to know herself through experiences. In saying this, I found both these poems and movie to be rather motivational in that even in this capitalistic age, there are still a multitude of ways in which we can still find our own sense of happiness and self-love.