Noland Trail
After
the class in which we hiked along the Noland Trail I didn’t feel I had
accumulated enough to write about. So, I returned a few weeks later, alone, to
hike the trail again.
Upon
returning to the trail, the first thing I experienced was a sense of calm and
peacefulness. These feelings were welcomed, as the barrage of papers and
homework I had been assigned, as well as the looming presence of final exams
had been weighing heavily on my mind and had left me feeling stressed. There is
some ineffable quality of nature that provides this sense of peace that is
simply not experienced elsewhere. These enjoyable qualities, combined with the
nice weather, heightened my spirits as I walked along the trail.
I
was determined to find something to write about the entire walk, and I think
this was a mistake. Ironically, consciously trying to become inspired to write
about something is probably the worst way to actually become inspired to write
about something. Everything I saw I tried to receive encouragement from, but
nothing was really clicking. When I reached turtle bridge, I stood there
looking out at the turtles and decided to wait for the big turtle to appear,
figuring this would be my inspiration.
Interestingly,
after I stopped concentrating on coming up with a topic to write about, a thought struck me that I actually feel was worth writing about. I realized that every moment that is experienced while
walking alone can be in some ways perceived as an event manufactured solely for
the enjoyment of that person. In other words, when you’re alone every sight
that you see and every noise you hear will never be seen or heard under the
exact same circumstances ever again. Therefore, even the most mundane experiences
can be seen in some sense as extraordinary. I watched the turtles from the
bridge for quite a while and I never saw the big turtle. I realized that much
of what we see and experience is entirely out of our control, the best we can
do is try to enjoy it.
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