Geneva Polser- Landscapes of the Sacred

Lane speaks of how a place takes on whatever occurs there and how one event can forever change that place. I think there is a lot of truth to that, which is why a place that is sacred to many is so amazing. For so many people to feel a connection to one place is mind blowing. Thinking that whatever happened here how ever many years ago still speaks to the generations present shows how powerful a story can be. Not that the story is made up or embellished in order to achieve this point but more that this story leaves someone feeling so enraptured by it that they too feel that strong connection. In the same thought though how do we get that feeling. We can admire a place for what historically has happened there or the beauty of a place but to truly feel a connection based off of past experiences not by our own senses is a powerful human concept.
When lane explains that the Aborigines feel a certain connection with an item that was around them where they were conceived. This item whether rock or plant or other is a spiritual totem for them. How can we feel so connected to a place that has done nothing more then coexist with us. Though that sounds like a skeptics comment it is more of a disbelief in the abilities of human compassion. Is it something deep within our roots that makes us feel like we must be connected to one thing or another for a lifetime? Or is it a social feeling of belonging that pushes us toward these stories? I think there is much to be sought after in both but the connection we can feel is far greater then any nay-sayer that would try to tear us away

Mary Ragan: Connection to Place

As we continued to talk about the connection people make to places I continued to think about my own connection to place. I really feel like I understand this concept. We talked about place being a space with distinct character and all being oriented toward a specific environment. I think this specific environment depends on where you are brought up, where you seek refuge from troubles or find comfort. Or in the case of one of the songs we heard it could depend on what you learn and pick up from your family, culture, and identity. My connection is to the ocean. I have lived about a mile from the beach in NJ my entire life and thought that I just liked the beach because it's where I've always been but I can honestly say I feel an attatchment to it. I witnessed this connection and attachment in myself this past weekend when I went to Virginia Beach to volunteer at the Rock n Roll half marathon. I hadn't seen the ocean since I have been back at school and as we walked up to the boardwalk I saw the ocean and felt what I think was a kind of relief come over me. This sounds corny but I found myself lifting up my arms excited. I was surprised at what I was feeling. It also made me miss home as seeing it made me think of my summer, family and home. I realized that my connection to the ocean grew stronger this summer while I was home. I ran on the boardwalk about every other morning by myself which always made me have such a great start to my day. Sometimes I would hang out down there for a little bit while not a lot of other people were there and just think, pray, reflect or jump in the ocean. I sometimes felt like I craved this solitary swim. It became such a place for ME. I saw the sunrise a couple times. Or I would often just ride by the beach, play music and relax. I also experienced this connection when I was in Africa this summer. As we drove away from one of the villages, all crammed into a truck on the bumpy roads, all I could think was that I wanted to be swimming in the ocean by myself. The village was so poverty stricken and desperate and I just felt so horrible about things. What I feel is hard to put into words I guess but the ocean is a release for me. I connect it to God, reflection, relaxation, solitude, and spirituality. It is a sacred place.

Song Reflection - Peter Ikeda

I really enjoyed listening to the songs in class and then relating them back to what we had read and talked about. I especially liked the second song and how the singer described her life wandering as her "life [was] built on exile far from [her] roots." For me it reminded me of Lane's fourth axiom which describes a "push and pull" affect of the sacredness of land. He notes describes the "lure of sacred space" as the "strongest among homeless, alienated, and estranged." In the song the narrator has been forced from the place of her roots and describes a constant longing for her home. This separation from her home, or place of her roots, causes the singer's soul to forever hold a longing within it; an incompleteness that can only be fulfilled by being reunited with that sacred place. Lane points out that "human existence is heavily dependent on fixed points" because they "enable [us] to 'dwell' in the world with meaning." He concludes in his fourth axiom that a sacred place is necessary for us to be at peace within ourselves because it fulfills that constant longing for purpose in us. This place can be sacred in a religion or sacred for an individual but either way it connects with that individual and completes an aching soul or broken heart allowing us to "live in the world with meaning." I thought this was really cool because it reminds me of my grandparents. I'm half Japanese and my grandparents are 100% Japanese. They were born and raised here in America but during World War 2 they were removed from their homes and relocated to the internment camps when the hostilities towards the Japanese were high. I think this relocation in their lives, the removal from their home into a hostile environment caused them the same pain and longing as the narrator in the song. My grandparents have lived in the same house for about 50 years and they're at that stage in life where a huge house can become more a hindrance than a home. A few years ago my grandparents had to make a very hard decision: to move out of the place they had finally been able to call their own, with memories spanning almost 5 decades, or move to a place foreign to them in order to cater to their age and capabilities. Honestly I think it was one of the hardest decisions of their life. I remember my grandfather especially being touchy to the situation because it was so painful for him to think about having to leave his home. During the period where they were deciding he acted very strange. He was quite, his answers were abrupt and at times abrasive, and he just seemed to be in a constant state of despair. I believe that in this instance Lane's idea of human existence being dependent on sacred places, especially to those who have been estranged or alienated. My grandparents did decide to move and I think it was for the best but it was very heart-wrenching for them because they were leaving the place they had finally been able to call home.

Kayla Delaguila: outside reading

So I am reading this book, “Global Issues" by Michael Snarr for my government class, he wants us to catch up on about 20 years of modern politics. Anyway, I was reading all these stats about how the world is growing, including that over 200,000 people are added to the world's totally population every day. What? Does anyone else not believe this? I know it's true because it's cited by the census, but goodness. With that many people in the world how are we ever going to find the space to sit and have our sacred place find us as Lane would say. There was this stat about how in the 90s more children died from diarrhea than all the people who died due to armed conflict since WWII. Makes you re-think all the complaining we do about health care in the United States. Lane talked about, and I'm speaking from my perspective of what he said, how in America we seem to under appreciate nature and the sacred places that it has given us. We don't want to wait for a sacred place to find us; we would rather make a fake sacred place in Disney Land. A little cynical? Maybe. But how can Americans sit and take all that we have for granted day after day, from our health care system to the simple beauty of the quiet nature? Is there something we can do to help the world and leave our little North American shell? This is what I get for reading a book about sacred lands and a government book at the same time... I bet you couldn't guess if I'm Democratic or Republican.

Samantha Anderson- The Now

At the end of my senior year of high school, I went down to Florida to visit my best friend. Since it was Florida, the beach was basically her back yard. Are days would be spent laying on the beach of chilling in the gulf’s waters. Specifically where she lived there were a ton of little bridges that had canal water below. We were driving to the beach one day, when we just pulled over on the bridge and decided to jump in. At that very moment my heart was petrified, however I knew an opportunity like this would not arrive again. Right as we jumped off there was that moment of “now.” Nothing else was happening, no other thoughts were racing through my mind, I was just in the air falling living in the “now.” It wasn’t until I hit the water and came back to the surface that I even realized what I had just done. I wonder is there any other way that you can create this moment other that bridge jumping, bungie jumping, or sky diving? Why is it only when you are in a state of free fall that you are in the “now” moment? Is it possible with discipline to train our minds to find that same feeling while at rest?

James Joseph: Personal Choice (1) First Day Poem

The sky is vast, the land is flat
This is the only place I've wanted to be at.
With trees all around, and professor in sight
It's about time to start this ULLC right?
With words and essays, I will show
The beauty of forests and lands covered in snow.
So believe me now, as I say:
The time to start writing is...today!

I have always found beauty in the unchanged, disordered essence of nature. Whether it's the forest in my back yard, the lawn outside of Potomac South, or the tundras of Alaska, I love everything that nature has to offer. I think that sometimes we as humans tend to overlook the smaller things, the smaller beauties in life. And if we take the time to notice these things, to enjoy them, and to notice that we as humans are as much a part of the world as a blade of grass is, I feel that life will be so much more to us. Firmly put, I love nature: The tightening grip of the wilderness as you crack open the door to nature is incomparable to any other feeling in the world. I am looking forward to learning, observing, and loving everything from this class: And hopefully because of that I'll be able to work for a good grade as well!

Geneva Polser: First Day Poem

Class scheduling allows
Geneva to make
scheduling mistakes
Wilderness is a place
free from social constructs
like the education race

Wilderness and camping for days on end has never been something that I have put on the top of my priority list. I get eaten alive by bugs and thats typically whats stopping me from going in the summer time, and I'm always cold so the winter isn't so good either. I do however enjoy going on hikes and just observing the nature around me. I think a perfect sunset on the water is one of the most spiritual things one can find. I think in our society if we take a week off to go 'find ourselves' in the wild or what not we get those weird looks. Yet part of the reason one would want a lone time is to get away from those kind of social constructs. The concept that everyone must follow a certain path filled with certain goals so as to be living the American dream. I think this class will help break down some of those barriers atleast for those in this class.