Path To Our Own Paradises In Homer's Odyssey

Path to Our Own Paradises We all are on some sort of journey. Some of us are on shorter ones, and some of us are working towards a longer journey. For example, people work toward goals, like in school, or work. Whether it’s to get good grades, or get a pay raise, or to make more friends, it’s generally a short-term goal. Furthermore, longer goals are usually for the future, or for something that’ll take longer time than a shorter goal would. As an example, ancient Greek myths that involve journeys, like the Odyssey and the Iliad, generally take a very long time to reach their end goal. In the beginning, we are introduced to characters, like Odysseus, who is on a trip to his Ithaca, or in simpler terms, his paradise to reach. In these trips,
he is given many obstacles that he has to overcome. Just like Odysseus, we all have obstacles that require overcoming in order to reach what we want want in life. Personally, for me, my ultimate goal in life is to get a job as psychologist because I want to help others, make a difference in the world, and I’m interested in knowing why people do what they do. It goes without saying that people generally have good intentions.
Depending on where we come from, or how we were raised, or our experiences, it usually leads an impact on how we want to change the world to make it better. For example, in the Odyssey, Odysseus discovers new territories, where things he’s never experienced, surprise him, such as the Land of the Cyclopes. He ends up being curious, and because of how his world is, he does not understand why the Cyclopes eats his men. It is later discovered that to the Cyclopes, Polyphemus, he had invaded his home, and he saw it as a threat to himself. Hence, why he saw it as okay to eat his men, plus it was just a way of how they survived. But, in Odysseus’ eyes, he wanted to change the Cyclopes, as he never appreciated his men being eaten. For myself, I see a huge problem in our society today. There are countless cases of people feeling worthless, or useless, than we’d like to admit. That is a huge deal to me, as I was once one of those people, and I truly want to change that as much as I can. So, by aspiring to be a counseling psychologist, it definitely brings myself closer to helping out in that effort, as well as making more people happier. It may be a small area that I affect, but nonetheless, it will all add up
slowly. Furthermore, changing the world is a big deal to me.
Everyone has different views on certain things, but the generalized ideas we have today are something I want to make an effort to change. For example, in schools, cyberbullying isn’t really helped out as much as it would be if there was actual bullying in real life. But, due to cell phones existing in our world today, cyberbullying is way more common. Society also tends to have a habit of putting those down who are calling out for help, thus reinstating the point of many people being depressed in our society today. In the Odyssey, the world was entirely different then. It was ancient Greek times, where people walked around half-nude, and where people were advancing skills into the arts and had just invented the Olympic games. But, personally, from human nature, I believe there were certainly things that Odysseus himself would’ve wanted to change. For example, when he had finally returned to Ithaca, he had to challenge all of his wife’s suitors in order to get her back. While he accomplished that goal, it’s most likely that he had wished that the situation never escalated to go to those lengths. Therefore, his want to change the world carries on to our present
day. Thirdly, it’s no surprise that we all have habits and secrets we keep. It’s part of how our brains work, and how we all function every single day. For me, I’m extremely interested in the science behind why we do what we do. Hence why I seek a career into psychology, as it is the study of the human mind. For further explanation, I wonder why, in the Odyssey, the Sirens had a desire to lure sailors in order to kill them. I also wonder how Odysseus found the strong drive to get home. But, then again, it is the same reason why we all pursue what we truly want in life. Humans have evolved greatly, but our determination and drive have remained the same. We all have a purpose in life, and when we believe we find that purpose, we pursue it like it’s the only thing that matters in our life. Thus, proving that Odysseus clearly fought as hard as he could to reach his purpose, which he accomplished with some obstacles thrown his way. All things considered, we all have a drive to reach what we most desire. Our goals differ from person to person, some goals completely opposite, and some similar to one another. For Odysseus, he fought through his obstacles, just like we do in everyday life. We work as hard as we possibly can to ensure that we accomplish our long term goals, as well as our short term goals. Just like Odysseus, our drive keeps us going to pursue what we want in life. For me, that happens to be pursuing my dream career as a counseling psychologist, so I can make people happier in the world, make a difference in our society, and to learn more about how our brains work.