"Money Does Not Buy Happiness" Using the Sociological Imagination to Move Beyond Stressful Lives
2009; The MIT Press; Volume: 7; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1540-5699
Autores Tópico(s)Environmental, Ecological, and Cultural Studies
Resumoday, I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock to start my busy day. As I make my breakfast, I run through all the things I need to get done and again look it over in my trusty daily planner that has it all set in stone. For a long time, I have struggled with trying to do too much at once. Between classes, schoolwork, a job, and a social life, my days are full and I hardly ever have time to have a moment to myself to think. Why do I do this to myself? What effects does constantly doing something have on me--not just on me, but also on our society? People are constantly strutting down the street or driving in their cars chatting on their cell phones or checking emails on their Blackberry. Materialism plays a major player in our society. It has become increasingly important to have the right clothes and the newest technology items such as the Blackberry, which contributes to people being busy doing work because they need money to afford these types of items. What is the point of having more money and stuff than other people? Does it affect the quality of life people have? Why doesn't our society put more emphasis on spending time just thinking or spending quality time with family and friends or even writing in a journal? There are many ways to spend our time that are much more useful. In her book, Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives, Louise DeSalvo explains the importance of writing and the benefits it can have for people's lives. Two of DeSalvo's reasons for writing are very related to the topic of busy, stressful lives. DeSalvo reminds the reader that writing is cheap. It does not cost very much to write thoughts and experiences down and it is a positive way of getting feelings out. Also, she indicates that it does not take much time to write either. If an individual only has five minutes a day to devote to something extra, writing can be a great way to use this time because it can give that person a moment to let feelings out, get rid of aggression, or even write down happy feelings. This is something we do not use enough in our society. People can give attention to writing as little or as much as they want (DeSalvo 13). For example, a busy business executive could set aside five minutes of their busy day to write. Keeping a pad of paper and a pen right on top of their desk to jot down something could be helpful for their lives. Late in her book, DeSalvo writes about her preparation for her daily writing. It is much like the preparation many people make before heading to work or school in the morning. Each day, I divide my writing time into three distinct phases--preparations, working, concluding. Before I begin working, I prepare to work, often by reviewing yesterday's writing, by browsing through books and notes, by carefully planning my work for that day, by scribbling some phrases and ideas (DeSalvo 134). Although writing can be seen as means for people with busy, scheduled lives to get away from all the planning and stress, at times it can still be a very planned procedure. It can be just as planned and structured as the paperwork that a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company must complete each day. These are issues I have dealt with much of my life and this is a perfect opportunity to take the chance and look deeper into their causes and see what I can do about them. Media's influence has definitely played a large role in the stress and materialism in my own life and those of many others in society. Through the use of media outlets, such as television and the Internet, materialism has crept its way into our lives and we do not even realize how much effect it is having on our lives. In the film, The Matrix, there is a scene at the beginning when millions of humans are wired inside their little pods, thinking they are free and completely unaware of what is truly going around them. The people do not realize that they are not controlling their own lives. …
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