Maybe you have heard this sentence before. If you are a free-spirited and hippie-minded person like me, you have probably heard it. I heard these words for the first time in the film "Into The Wild". It is possible to write this post without spoilers about the film. But if you haven't seen the film "Into The Wild" or read the book, but if watching it is among your plans, I recommend you to watch it first and then read this post. Because this way you will better understand how powerful the sentence I am talking about is.
I remember watching this film at the end of my high school years. The film is about a young man named Christopher McCandless leaving society and embarking on a journey into nature. Towards the end of the film, at a very important place, Chris writes these sentences in his notebook.
So, I was deep in thought after the effect of the film. Those were the times when I felt lonely. We all had such periods of depression. My friends around me were talking about their careers. They were talking about their social activities. I was never a party person, and I didn't enjoy going to these events with them. Sometimes, I was thinking about what kind of impact I wanted to make in the world. Was it possible to make a positive impact, even if it was small? Yes, I knew that I would never be able to change big things, but I still thought about supporting people who needed help more during my university years. Now that I am getting older, this situation has changed a little bit, and I think I have become a little more getting away from nature and ruthless. When I feel uncomfortable with this situation, I accuse myself of selfishness and try to create opportunities to do good. Whenever I feel selfish, when I don't want to share what I am going through with my family or when I don't feel like calling them, I remind myself of these words. These words are very important to me. It makes me think that other people around me have happiness to share with me and makes me call them more. It makes me contact my family more and ask them how their day was and what they want to do in the near future. Thus, love between me and them becomes stronger.
Sometimes my friends are surprised by my questions. I ask them what do you want to do? In fact, I realise that most of the time their answers are economic plans. Then, when we start talking about what you do to be happy, I realise that many of my friends actually don't spare any time for themselves. This is why I think socialising is very important. When we go camping in the forest, we can have long and deep conversations with my friends, away from social media. I shared a post about this. During these conversations, when I ask them how they think about being happy, they think for a while, especially when they first hear the question. They question the choices they made by looking into the fire.
I often ask myself this question. What am I doing to share happiness? What am I doing to share happiness with my beloved? What steps do I need to take to make my child happy in my future plans, thinking that I will be happy because he/she is happy? What am I doing to be happy myself? That's how much power this sentence has. It is definitely not an ordinary sentence. It is not as simple as sharing something good that has happened to us with the people around us. The deeper we think, the more valuable it is to make an effort and sweat for something instead of waiting for something to happen to us. When we achieve this thing as a result of our efforts, what we achieve will be more valuable, and we will be happier. But if life were a meal served to us on a golden platter, then we would not enjoy it. The wood we break ourselves is always hotter.
It didn't take me a long time to realise that happiness is something that multiplies as we share it. I have a younger sister. From a young age, whenever I shared something with her and sacrificed myself, I was very happy when I realised that she was happy. Let me tell you a short story. In 2015, I went to Indonesia, where I worked in an energy company for 4 months. We were working in a place far away from the city. During this period, we had the opportunity to visit the nearby villages. Every time we visited these villages, our supervisors would give us a parcel of wafer, and chocolate to take there. When I first received this, it was very strange. But when we went to the village, I will never forget the happiness of the children who saw these chocolates. The photo I took with them is definitely my favourite photo in life.
So yes, this sentence is a sentence that a man travelling in nature wrote in his notebook when he was alone at a very important moment. I get teary-eyed every time I watch the scene, and I watch this film again almost every year. After writing this post, I plan to watch it again. Indeed, happiness becomes real when we share it. Even the happiest thing we keep to ourselves fades away after a while, like a candle burning alone in the dark.
I wish that your happiness will light other people's candles and be shared for a long time. Sometimes, we may have to make sacrifices to make others happy. What you need to remind yourself is that at the end of these sacrifices, your beloved spouse, child, relative, friend... whoever that person or people is, they will be happy. And with their light, the world will become a more beautiful place.
Thank you very much for reading, remember;
This blog is inspired by and written for; The Inkwell Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompt ‘’Words That Mark Life’’