Little Miss Sunshine Journal

Is life a paradox? Why is it that we tend to value what we do not have, and may not ever have, over that which we do have? Our quest in life is similar to that of Don Quixote, continually pursuing monsters and dragons, only to find that our dreams are not what we thought them to be. Our dreams fit the viewpoints that we currently have in life, showing the different stages of development. It shows that we want to grow, to do better in our life than we currently are, to change the world that we live in. We look around and peer into the lives of people who surround us, wanting what they have or knowing that we are better off as we are.

In the movie ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ an average American family was shown trying to achieve their dreams. The father was trying to make it big in the realm of motivational speaking, the grandfather had a ‘Fonzie’ complex (all women love me and want to make out with me), the son wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force, the mother wanted to have a successful family, the uncle wanted to be recognized as the top scholar he was, and the daughter wanted to be a beauty queen. Every one of their dreams was bigger than life itself and would take all of their energy, both physical and mental, to achieve and fulfill their dream. Although it was not impossible for their dreams to come true, the amount of dedication and determination would eventually make it highly improbable.

So why do we value that which we do not have? Quite possibly because we only see that which we want to see, we pick and choose what is of value as we look at life through our rose colored glasses. Or we do not know how to obtain that which we want. Richard, the father, saw people making money through motivational speaking. He knew it was possible to maximize income by adding book, audio, and video/DVD sales alongside a national speaking tour. What he did not realize was the need to promote his name and himself in order to lay the groundwork for publishing sales. Richard knew he wanted fame and fortune, but he did not realize the groundwork necessary to obtain it. Olive wanted to be ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and quite possible Miss America, but she did not know how to obtain that status. She knew what she wanted but had no idea of how to get there.

Why do we feel like we may never obtain that which we want? Life tends to get in the way of us achieving the goals which we have set. Some unforeseen event occurs and causes delay in reaching the goals we have set for ourselves. Dwayne wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force. He made a vow of silence until he reached his goal. As a teenage boy that might not have been such a big deal to not speak, especially since he felt awkward in his own family. But the major obstacle he encountered was the fact that he was colorblind. That, to him, seemed like Mount Everest and for a while he gave up on being a pilot. For Olive there were a multitude of obstacles, those which she saw and those which she did not see. She did not see the problem in transportation, the cost of the trip, or the fact that no one really wanted to make the trip. What she did see was her Grandfather pass away, her brother’s frustration in being color blind, and the exasperation of road networks that make it difficult in reaching the final destination (even though they could see the hotel where the Little Miss Sunshine pageant was being held, they could not get to it from where they were).

Value is not placed on that which we have because, simply put, we already have it. There is no mystery about what we already have, there is no struggle to obtain it because it is already in our possession. But it is a good question. Why do we not value things that we already have? We are greedy people by nature. We see what others have and if ours is not the same or better we become envious. What we already have seems dull and lifeless, not worth having because we have seen better.

Why is it that we tend to be disappointed when we obtain the things we want? We tend to put an unrealistic perception on what we desire and what we want. For instance we can go into a bakery and see the most delicious looking crème horns. They are big and fluffy, the vanilla crème looks like it has been piped into the horn to the fullest capacity. With drooling mouth, the crème horn is ordered, paid for, placed on beautiful plate, drizzled with a little bit of dark chocolate, and handed over the counter. We sit down, lick our lips, and take the first bite. Our mind can already taste the buttery pastry and the oversweet vanilla crème. Our first bite, however, reveals that only one end of the crème horn had filling in it, the rest was just dry puffy pastry with a little chocolate drizzled on top. From the bakery window the crème horn looked appealing but the first bite revealed that it was mostly empty and only a crusty shell.

Life is full of vanity, trying to obtain that which we do not have, ignoring that which we currently possess. Many families go through this, especially when children are young. The parents are working hard to support the lifestyle they want, to ‘keep up with the Jones’ and miss out on being part of the child’s life as they are beginning to explore the world around them. Because the parents want to provide a life that is better for their child than what they had, they tend to overwork themselves and ignore the children. This provides a mental pattern for the child, to always be looking for something better than what they currently have. It is like looking for the rainbow’s end and a huge pot brimming with gold and a leprechaun beside it. It is something that we always look for but somehow in the back of our minds we know that it will never be ours. It is just a figment of our imagination, like the dragons and monsters Don Quixote was always seeking. No matter how much we want it we will never obtain some of our dreams.

So how much is too much or too little for us to dream? That must be determined by the individual themselves. It depends on how strong they are physically, mentally, and whether they are determined to achieve the goals they set. But whether they are satisfied or not, that is a personal choice. Disneyland, the ‘happiest place on earth,’ can have unhappy people there. Is it Disneyland’s fault? No, it is a personal choice. Everyday we make the choice to value what we have or to be disgruntled with our possessions and greedy for what belongs to others. We look on as others succeed in the workplace, while we diligently attend to our own work. We see others less skilled than we are getting promotions, pay increases, and notoriety. Yet we do most of the groundwork for them and all of the work we do is totally ignored. Others who are less loyal and squander company time and money are given a higher paycheck and a better compensation package. People who have been with the company less time than we have are given the promotions that we are working for, hope for, and need. We see people with less job experience have no problem getting a good paying job and yet the job we have barely makes ends meet. Is it that they know something that we do not, they know how to promote themselves and the channels they must go through in order to obtain what they want. Are they really succeeding and as happy as we think they are or are we just deluding ourselves?

In our lives we have gone past the basic desire to live. We surpass that state of mere existence and add to it the desire to have an untouchable item. Whether it is fame, fortune, things, or love, it does not matter. We want something that we know we cannot have. We go for the forbidden fruit, so to speak, and while we try to obtain it we can easily be told by Dwayne ‘Welcome to Hell’ because the misery in obtaining what we desire can be unbearable.