The Environment and the Sojourn
Why do people get homesick? Why are people so attached to their childhood? Through the study of different upbringings and environmental effects, it can be proven that major life decisions can be affected and changed due to someone’s personal childhood, creative spirit, and environmental connection. These three items greatly affect major life changes such as college, marriage, lifestyle, and settlement. This is not to say that only these things affect life, but rather to say that they are the most major effects. Common culture throughout the United States of America in the 2000s has been to travel more frequently and to sojourn through life. This sojourn mindset has been created through the development of a human’s childhood and their connection to the world around them through creative and emotional elements (Kinney). This essay will discuss how a sojourner can be found to change major life decisions based on their personal connection and attachment to their environment, their creativity and thoughtfulness, and the way that they have been raised.
Almost all people seeking to travel enter different environments and react to those environments in differing ways. The thing most commonly found by researchers is a stark relationship between intelligence and the ability to adapt to an environment (Schulten). If a person delves deeply into an environment and, as Schulten says, “gets lost” then they can be seen as a more educated human when it comes to that environment (Schulten). Schulten is not saying “get lost” as in literally get lost but instead is explaining that a person must immerse oneself into an environment to fully understand it. A person must become fully acquainted with the areas where they sojourn in order to adapt to it. Many people will wonder what can be defined as an environment? In the simplest terms an environment is the setting surrounding someone but in truth it is rather anything affecting a person. As Schaumann acknowledges, an imagination alone has the ability to change someone’s environment. A book can influence a person in ways unfathomable. Most people in present times tend to watch movies and TV shows and these, like reading books, can alter a person’s mindset and influence their decisions.
A differing outlook is an environment affecting the art itself. Many people hope to travel and relax within their destination but some travelers take the adventure to the next level through a narrative of their discoveries. Schaumann points out that people are more likely to expand their horizons if they measure the world by discovering it themselves and their actions display that. Schaumann discusses how the famous Prussian explorer, Alexander von Humboldt, illustrated the Andean Volcanoes and with this exploration spurred people to later spend countless hours analyzing the effect this environment held upon the people living there.
While some research has focused on the intelligence gained by getting “lost” in an environment these next sources discuss purely the environment and its effect on people. Nivedita Misra writes on Mark Tully and his changes in identity based on his travels. The article bases its opinion on the fact that Tully becomes “self-aware of his own upbringing, religious beliefs, and social understandings” (Misra, pg) . Furthermore Misra looks into why Tully becomes self aware and the direct causation is seen as the environment he emerses himself into. Contradicting Tully’s self-awareness, a person can tell that some people’s upbringing can cause them to become more delicate and less unaware as seen in Stalking the moment which is written by Andrew Lambirth. Lambirth studies German artist, Bill Brandt, and his high end upbringing leading him to be a more sensitive young man. This sensitivity is seen as a strength in his field but his photographs were constantly staged causing them to be an untrue representation of his environment. Brandt’s upbringing shaped him into this falsified artist.
In the topic of art, a person can generally find true meaning hidden behind misleading details. Many times young students have questioned what this true meaning is and why it is there.An example analyzed by Willard Spiegelman give way to his idea that by explaining a poem’s true meaning and why the author wrote it as such. Spiegelman’s idea is that a poet often uses his or her memories and environmental teachings to weave a deeper meaning into the poem.
The ideas analyzed would remain incomplete without male and female perspectives. Women may observe other factors and may omit ideas that men see. Research would be heavily limited if it did not discuss all ideas in the studied field. Therefore women are seen as different from the men. Unlike men, a study on women found that their encounter with a different environment caused them to see gender struggles more clearly and these women tend to be more independent than submissive. The environment makes a person, or a woman in this case, stronger and more active if they have to endure hardships and discomforts. Beardsell analyzes individual woman through their upbringing and thought patterns as they see other women in different cultures in an effort to reveal what some women will believe about other, different women.
A more personal view of an environment affecting someone is expressed by Kinney’s description of Kimberly Meyer and her child, Elbe. Meyer is bringing up Elbe in a constantly changing environment while following Meyer’s own quest to satisfy her wanderlust. This gives perspective on the new generation growing up in a more fluid environment with less limitations and more spontaneous actions. Yet Kinney fails to fully analyze the effects on Elbe as she is grown. Birkett comes up with a older approach. He discusses whether or not full fledged travel from a young age is beneficial for a child in the long run. Most people see travel as a experience that should not be missed but many do not see a point where is travel too much. A person must ask themself if the constantly changing environment is good for a child or if it is not and if it fails to give a child a steady growing space. A child’s wellbeing is based on how the environment is constructed (Birkett).
The several transitions a child goes through in travel could affect their views in the world and change the next generation’s thought on the world. Some research has been conducted on kids who have been traveling since a young age and do not call one place home. Emily Hervey, from Regent University, observes the transitions kids go through and how that prepares or fails to prepare them for major life events such as college. A child’s environment will greatly affect their life decisions based on several factors that will be discussed (Hervey).
The the proper analysis of research in all these well found sources and their application to the world we live in help guide how we see things. This application will help develop viewpoints and change sojourners just as it preaches not to. Therefore the only major limitation to this study will be that some things it discusses can not be enacted because then the people enacting it will be doing the exact opposite of what is implied. All of this research has very in depth analyses so the information gleaned will be stated and applied to explain how a sojourn’s lifestyle is changed by their environment, creativity, and upbringing.
One must discuss how a person’s environment shall affect their life. A person is always making decisions whether or not they think them all through. Have you ever stopped to wonder what causes people to act instinctively or with their gut feeling? An ancient spartan would cut his enemies throat without a second of thought while in present times a farmer will butcher a pig the same way. Is either of these wrong? Some people would answer yes while others would argue the opposite. Both answers are correct so that means that both answers are wrong. Most people would not be able to kill a dog because they are attached to it. Each person grows up in a different environment and that changes how they think of things. The environment they are present in changes the very essence of their being. If a person is fully immersed in an environment then usually they can be considered experts in their field. (Schulten) The person has spent the time and been able to see things others have not. By spending more time, that person will have more knowledge and be more of an expert than others. A spartan would be an expert in killing, a farmer an expert in butchering, and a lawyer an expert in law. People raise themselves to be whatever their environment tells them to be. America tells kids they need college so kids get a degree. The pressure of social norms greatly affect how people decide they need to live by changing their thought patterns. The pressures from society play a part of the environment like a cog in a machine. A small piece helping to spin an entire person in a new direction. This pressure can be interchangeable with anything in the environment. A person’s hair stylist might inspire them to follow that career. That is just one example of the phenomenon called the butterfly effect. A small thing may cause ripples and change the course of history but unless we study all the minute actions we never know what honestly caused anything which can lead us to the conclusion that all things in our environment matter in shaping us as human beings since we human beings at our very essence are capable of incredible development and change. This butterfly effect can lead us into another thought about ideals.
If minor things can change our life then by theory everything we see will also change our ideals. The unconscious viewing of minor things, like paintings or decorations, can help shape our future. Alexander von Humboldt created simple paintings that have led to an increase of travel to the regions of which he painted (Schaumann). People who view art are more likely to follow where it leads and let it take them on a journey or they look into it and question it. (Schaumann) Amazing creativity in a person can give them an insight and completely warp their life choices to be more outgoing while a more simple creativity or no creativity can cause a person to follow the path better traveled. The understanding and comprehending of an environment can lead to self-awareness. In most cases the people that immerse themselves into the environment are outgoing and creative (Schulten).
There does happen to be another side to this where people change the environment through their own will. It is extremely rare to see someone acting independently but of an off chance it does happen. Usually something will affect the person and how the interact with others. The only case would be if someone is brought up and lived with no external influence which is not humanly possible so then the next closest thing would be a robot perfectly programed to ignore all influence but even then it would still have its program. The real reason can almost always be found by analysis a person’s actions. Everyone does something for a purpose and that purpose can be determined. Every life decision depends on the how the person has been shaped and how they think (Hervey). The psychology behind this can be used after the reasons are discovered and this study has found that the reasons most oftenly are attributed to an environment changing how people think and the people’s mentality.
The final thing that must be observed is the difference between how men, women and children see the environment differently based on their own set role in life. Most people see men as the instinctive actors, women as the thinkers, and children as the undeveloped. These simply stereotypes do define some sojourners but others require further research. A woman tends to use their place in life as how dependent they are. A woman who ventures out and experiences more tends to be more independent and passionate. (Hahner) This is not a one size fits all but rather a simple observation put forth. All people become more independent when they have to adapt to the situation alone but they also have their childhood to blame for how they act.
The largest cog in this machine is how a person is raised. A richer upbringing can lead to people staging life events while a poorer person may have to live every moment fully. (Lambirth) Every single person experiences the most growth as a child and that shapes who they become. Recent times have allowed kids to change incredibly. The rules have become more relaxed in developed countries and the kids are deteriorating. Kids have become more lazy, more spoiled, and more incompetent scum. Granted there are outliers to every case so not all kids are following this path but a vast majority take major life milestones for granted. The way kids have started living they are spoon fed and everything comes easy. Gone is the harder farm lives and factory jobs. Most kids don’t work when they could while adults allow them to be pampered. It is a disgrace to mankind that kids in developed countries are allowed to become lazy while other less developed countries can barely support their kids but once again it goes back to the environment. People act according to their upbringing and environment. Children that travel earlier and continue to travel lose their sense of home while they learn more about the world while the other extreme is that kids who continually live in one place will become more content and never know the strife others face or success others are blessed with. (Birkett)
The only thing that must be taken away is that people will be affected by every action made. Every small change in their environment will change a person’s life forever. Many people do not believe or simple ignore the philosophy of the butterfly effect but if one opens up to the truth behind it they will see that billions would be dead if small acts had not been performed. Every single action creates a wave of reactions that ripples through time. All actions are traceable so no one will find where they actually start and end but some may assume the patterns. The main causes of major life changes and developments stem from the upbringing, creative or adaptation ability, and the environment which they immerse themself within.
Bibliography
Beardsell, P. (1999). Women through Women’s Eyes: Latin American women in nineteenth-century travel accounts. Journal of Gender Studies, 8(2), 241–242.
Birkett, Dea. (2003). G2: Parents : ‘It didn’t matter if I wanted to go — I had to’. (Guardian Features Pages). The Guardian (London, England), p. 16.
Hervey, E. (2009). Cultural Transitions During Childhood and Adjustment to College. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 28(1), 3–12.
Kinney, Eloise. (2015). The Book of Wanderings: A Mother-Daughter Pilgrimage. Booklist, 111(14), 29.
Lambirth, A. (2004). Stalking the moment. The Spectator, 294(9167), 43–44.
Misra, Nivedita. (2014). Mark Tully on India and Hinduism: From the Political to the Personal. Journeys: The International Journal of Travel and Travel Writing, 15(1), 48–71.
Schaumann, C. (2009). Who Measures the World? Alexander von Humboldt’s Chimborazo Climb in the Literary Imagination. German Quarterly, 82(4), 447–468.
Schulten, S. (2008). GET LOST: ON THE INTERSECTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY. Modern Intellectual History, 5(1), 141–152.
Spiegelman, Willard. (2004). Landscape and Identity: Charles Wright’s Backyard Metaphysics. Southern Review, 40(1), 172–96.
