The Giving Tree
A good friend of mine suggested to read this, “It’s good to read this from time to time”. A children’s picture book? What, well in the end my curiousity led to me go over this good ol’ child’s classic.
Now I can see why this is good to reflect upon. After reading Shel Silverstein’s book about a tree and the boy as I grew up, I can internalize the underlying deep deep meaning behind the relationship of the mother tree and the boy.
I can think of it in a couple examples:
The Christian religion’s ideal about unconditional love. Yea, that is one point that came into my head, but it is definitely more than that.
Another point that I see more, the relationship between a parent and their child. This is where I relate to the most. It’s true about this endless love and giving and motherhood. I thought about my parents, especially my mom. She would do anything and everything for me, that is something special that I only began to realize and took for granted. This is one of the reasons I strive to be the best at what I can be, I want to give back, protect, provide, take care of them, take care of my future wife and kids. Out of love, out of respect, out of duty and responsibility. From the tree or my parents perspective, they are happy that they are able to provide and give. I can see that as well as how I can give back, or do things for others. Anyways, this comes from my pexperiences and has become a core part of my character.
Then there is the boy’s character, who represents the side of selfishness.
So another point I can see coming out of this book, and a point June wanted me to see. We still think about ourselves first of all. The boy on the other hand is like us, the children who are used to receiving and receiving, so much that we take it for granted. So take this into a context where I’m grown up, not relying on my parents, working, trying to figure myself out.
I still do think about my own selfish things sometimes. I want this, I want that, blah blah. Some peole would just expect those things to come, they become self-centred, materialistic, greedy, equating value to a number/quantity. They ask “Why?!”, when little things go wrong.
I’d like to say I’ve become more aware of my ‘wants’ and I try to live comfortably. I would rather invest my focus into working towards the things I want and it doesn’t have to be materialistic. Also, when you earn something that you really really want, it is so much more rewarding.