Students crowd amongst chairs and tables, surrounding a barefoot man sitting cross-legged in front of a podium.

Timber Hawkeye, author of Buddhist Boot Camp and TEDx speaker, detailed his life through a motivational speech last Tuesday in the library at lunch.

Hawkeye’s philosophy encouraged students to be empowered by the freedom of choice and to seek happiness in their lives, even if it was not by traditional means.

“My intention is to just plant a seed, ” he said. “I hope the kids walk away with something to think about, whether it be the importance of gratitude or not paying so much attention to what other people think.”

Hawkeye first gained fame after the publication of Buddhist Boot Camp, a secular perspective on being at peace with the world. Having previously worked as a lawyer, Hawkeye described his old self as ‘having all the material possessions he could have wanted’ yet still unsatisfied. He abandoned the corporate life and moved the Hawaii, where he wrote a series of emails that would become the basis of his first book.

“When he explained how he worked at a cubical and how he hated life […] it made me realize that I don’t want to live the life that he started out as. I want to be free and happy and just going with the flow,” said Lily D’Angelo Cole, senior.

“I enjoyed when he talked about getting angry and the choice not to get angry back,” said Miss Heidi Resnik, teacher librarian.

Throughout his speech, Hawkeye used examples from his personal life to emphasize how the freedom of choice led to his own personal self-fulfillment.

“Getting out of student debt was my greatest moment of freedom because I felt like I had more options,” said Hawkeye. “I felt no longer enslaved by having to pay for things I didn’t need, and I felt free to not necessarily work so hard but to work less and make more.”

“I think when we eliminate the words, ‘I have to do this,’ and instead say, ‘I choose to do this,’ we feel better about our choices.”