Noland Trail: PJ Leegan

My Noland Trail experience was pretty dull. I didn’t really feel or see anything that special. I go out there a lot so it was hard for me to actually “enter” the place. I did however enjoy the beginning when Professor Redick talked about the different plants, especially that thorny looking one, the devil’s stick or something. I also enjoyed looking at that drain where all of the water was flowing out really fast and I look forward to going back to that spot when all the carp are there, as Professor Redick explained. As I continued walking, I looked for a spot to stop and relax and I came upon some random bridge stood there for a little bit but became bored so I decided to spit in the water a few times. That was pretty fun. The bridge experience was probably my favorite part of the whole trail. I was alone and enjoyed just staring out into the water. On the walk back I was scared because I couldn’t think of anything to write about so I tried to come up with some random stuff, but I decided I might as well just admit that I didn’t really “connect” with the place. I did enjoy getting out of the classroom and getting some fresh air though.

My experience with flow: Josh Osteen

So I live right at the base of the George Washington National Forest and I love the woods and wilderness. I feel as though this is one of the reasons I felt so compelled to take this course. Anyways, I am a short drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive which are both roads that traverse a small portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The entire drive is a spectacle and around every turn there is a new view of the Shenandoah Valley below and each one is as breathtaking as the last. During Fall Break I proceeded to take an hour hike up to a popular, but not too popular tourist site known as Humpback Rock. This rock formation is not at the highest peak, but what makes it special is what it looks like.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Humpbackrock5.jpg
This is a link of what the summit looks like. The thing about this hike is that it's very short and some people even take their dogs up on the mountain. With all of this touristy actions, the place does not seem to be that sacred. From my experiences on the mountain I can testify that no matter what you see on your way up, the view from the top gives you the most wonderful feeling. I consider this to be a sure-fire spiritual renewal opportunity. Everytime I hike this, I feel as though nothing back in the real world matters anymore. Every worry or thought just melts away from the rolling mountains and the green valleys.
So, now that I have explained stuff that isn't the main point I will now continue to the reason for this post.
Over fall break I decided to take on this hike for the umpteenth time and I decided to take my sister along with me. We started out right before the sun was about to set and we started walking. The hike at first is not natural at all. The trail has been graveled and set up to prevent rock slides and to divert things such as water. The trail does not help with any type of mindset. After the halfway mark the trail starts to immediately get more treacherous on one of the path options. Of course being the adventurous type that my sister and I are, we chose the path that was harder. We began to run out of things to talk about and so we fell silent for a while. I began to look down at my feet and then out of nowhere I felt as though I snapped out of a trance. I realized I was almost done with the hike and I had no idea how I was so far up and how I had gotten there. I felt completely happy and content with everything around me. It took me a minute but I finally connected that I had just experienced flow for the first time. I was in a state of a merging of awareness and action. I had been walking for what felt like no time at all, but I was farther along than I thought I was. My mind completely stopped processing what I was doing and started to soar higher than the mountain. My mind was wandering and my body was walking. I felt so out of it and didn't even know where I was. It was an amazing experience and It changed the way I viewed hiking. I got to the top of the mountain and sat there to journal and looked out as the sun was beginning to fall behind the mountains right beside us. The hike had finally showed me some of the things we has talked about in class. The idea of flow had always intrigued me and I finally was able to experience. I wish I could explain it with more detail but the pure state of no action awareness is indescribable. I now wonder if I can experience flow in more places than in wilderness alone.

Nature Walk-Will Geiger

At 2:10 on that Thursday, I awoke with a start at the sound of my obnoxious alarm clock. I vaulted myself out of my bed, assuming the floor was under me (it luckily was), grabbed my backpack and sprinted out of my room. I was in a delirious state of mind because a stone cold nap is a hard thing to get out of in the first place and then when it so happens that, without a ride, my only option is to hoof it a mile down the road, the mental and physical transition is difficult to make. When I finally get to the trail and join the class, fifteen minutes late, shirt soaked through with sweat, Dr. Redick was speaking of the variety of plant life found along the trail. The most striking visual experience I had the entire time on the trail was at one point when the sun had made a glare on the eclectic amassing of foliage on the trail floor and it was as if all the colors were jumping aggressively at my eyes. I paused a handful of times to soak up this effect and began to think about how singular this moment would be for me. Flow is the merger of action and spirit, and as I thought about this moment, the way the sun was reflecting off of the leaves to project a vibrant golden aura, I could focus on nothing else but this seemingly tangible energy. My thoughts even seemed to decelerate to a standstill. When the apex of my flow experience subsided and I was brought back from whatever planet I had drifted to, I began to relate the idea of the absolute present to the setting. What I had just experienced would only be possible in the fall, one of the many reasons why people like the fall is because the leaves of most trees turn to characteristically autumn shades of orange and yellow and red. When Dr. Redick showed us the Holly tree, time sped up and my thoughts found their way to the winter setting of the trail, with three feet of snow and the entire lake frozen over...I wish. Then further on, as we observed the damage that hurricane Isabel did to the Nolan, having knocked down thousands of trees and crippling the habitat, the park had to be closed for months. I could see the difference in height of trees that had re-grown in the time following Isabel and those that had survived and it made me think of the life span of a tree, how insignificant six months is when one lives for potentially hundreds of years. The contrast between the expanse of time that the Nolan Trail symbolizes and the specificity of the moment of flow that I experienced earlier blew my mind.

Landscapes of the Sacred: Darshan- Samantha Anderson

In the American culture, silence has become a bad sign. However, the Hindus believe in darshan, “absorbing the unspoken presence of a nobler spirit” p. 91. Why is it that our culture finds silence awkward, chilling, and uncomfortable? Where did the constant need for conversation arrive from? I feel as a culture we would be more at peace if we practiced darshan. I believe a true sign of friendship to be the ability to sit together and not have a need to say anything to each other. The silence between friends is a representation of how close we are; the fact that we are not afraid of our silence together, but rather we embrace the time and reflect on our own thoughts and friendship. How much would our culture change if we practiced darshan on a regular basis?

Landscapes of the Sacred: Oral Tale- Samantha Anderson

In the readings by Lane, he talks about spirituality in oral tale. He states, “To be moved by story is to abandon oneself to its life-changing impact, not simply to remember its details as data field for later analysis.” Pg. 88 This makes me think of hearing a great motivational speech. You have a feeling to go out and do great things, but when you try to repeat the same message to someone else it does not possess the same flair. The oral speech/tale is life-changing but cannot be analyzed later. It is a feeling that lingers, a thought that changes your perspective, but yet you cannot pinpoint the change. I wonder how many lessons are learned in this style, especially at young ages. The most basic lessons are taught in a form or story or song.

Noland Trail Experience - Tara Thompson

As I was passing yet another autumn touched tree, I paused to inspect its beautiful branches. I felt something moving on my head, assuming it was probably another annoying bug landing on me. However, as I moved my hand across my head to get the pest off of me, a beautiful butterfly began fluttering around my head. It was spastic! It would come close to me and then I'd flinch and it would frantically flap its wings. It finally landed on a dead stump. I stepped closer to get a better look at it, and realized the poor little thing had a chunk taken out of its wing. Maybe it wasn't trying to be so spastic, but it was broken and needed a safe place to land. I turned away for just a moment, and when I turned back around, the butterfly was gone. Then out of the corner of my eye I noticed that it was on my shoulder! I tried not to move again, but for some reason I flinched again. I WAS SO FRUSTRATED WITH MYSELF! It's a harmless butterfly, and I was somehow fearful of it. Again, it softly landed on the stump, slowly fluttering its broken wing. I felt so much compassion for this poor little, beautiful creature. I yearned for its trust! I wanted to badly for it to land on me once more, and I promised myself that this time I wouldn't scare it away. To my surprise, again it flew over towards me, for a while I stood there as it hovered over me, straining to stand still, yet failing every time it was close to landing. Why was I afraid? Why couldn't I embrace this beautiful creation? It landed on my head for a few moments before fluttering away, forever.

On the bike ride home I tried to figure this whole situation out. It took a while, but I think it finally hit me. I am extremely afraid of brokenness. I'm surrounded by it since we're all so broken in this world. However, I hate admitting that I'm broken myself. I guess in some, weird, way I felt as though I understood the butterfly. It was so broken and wanted so badly to rely on me for help and comfort, but I'm just a broken human, and nothing I do will ever fix that poor butterfly. I've spent so much of my life trying to rely on others for that same comfort but it never works. The only think that will ever fully satisfy me, that can heal me of my brokenness is a Savior.

Viewing Nature Interactively- Sam Anderson

When on the Nolan Trial the other day an array of thoughts raced through my mind. Starting with the simple walk to the Lions Bridge to meet for class, I took in everything around me. With only a short 1.5 mile walk from campus, the scenery changed so quickly. I left academic looking building behind, then soon streets. I was on a coble stone trail with trees on either side of me. Wondering when I would reach the bridge, I kept seeing turns thinking is it right around there, however it was not. Then all of a sudden the water hits you, bam! There it is beautiful blue green water in contrast to the black asphalt and grey cement. It was mind boggling to think that this nature beauty is so close to campus. I have been going to school here for over a year, and if someone asked me how close we are to the water, I would not think of this river. I would tell them that the there is Yorktown beach 20 minutes away. To live so close to the James River and never take advantage of it seems like a waste. I feel I have been treading on a sacred place but at that moment I entered it, just like Lanes axiom. Once we began walking the trail as a class, plants were pointed out and explained. The one that made the biggest impact to me was the Dogwood tree. It is our state tree and I have known this information since elementary school when they drilled state information in my head, but I have never seen a Dogwood in real life. The state tree right there in front of me; looking like any other tree. After walking for about half a mile and receiving a good ten bug bites the class disperses to walk on their own. Listening to the sound of my footsteps I can hear the slight difference in walking on rocks versus walking on hard mud stand. Or, if my feet drift off into the grass portion of the trail I feel the unevenness of the surface. The land becomes more than just a beautiful sight but a feeling from the feet up. Captivating your senses saying “you are with nature.” However, as the walk progress back, less tress are seen and the roads come into view. Next comes the academic building and what do you know the separation from natures and back to academia has become relevant, but that faint remembrance of the Nolan Trail in embedded in my brain. Knowing that at any time I can take a quick walk down the way and be reunited once again.