Hannah's blog

Stress clung in my mind, but I stayed waiting and hopeful under the canopy of leaves.

Wanting the tension to blow away with the breeze that blew by me.

Wind pulled at my hair and took with it as it left the anxious energy that had been sitting in my head all day and stifling my thoughts.

My mind was free again and I was blissful.

Today after visiting my location on campus, the wall under the trees that overlook the sunken garden, I found myself in a very thoughtful mood. At first it was a peaceful thoughtful mood and I was very relaxed and enjoyed myself in this cozy place in the trees. I looked at the sunlight shining through the leaves and listened to the rustling of them as the wind blew through them. I thought about how in my paper I had dissected the word “space” and I tried to become fully present and aware of the space I was in and noticed the feel of the air around me.  When the wind came the air blew on me colder, and when I moved into sunlight and the wind stopped, the air sat on my warmly, heated by the sun’s rays. When I got back to my room, I was compelled to draw a picture (which I didn’t have time to upload now but will try to do so next post). 

I didn't really feel any difference in my walking style while I was trying to walk like Thoreau. I think that Thoreau wants us to be thoughtful and mindful when we walk and to be curious and adventurous about what new things we might encounter, and I already do that a lot of times when I walk by myself and walk places that I am not hurrying to get to. In my essay I mostly just described some of the things that I thought about while I was walking. During part of my walk I went down senior row and I remember feeling really peaceful and wondering about Oak trees (because a lot of the trees in senior row are oaks) and how they used to be sacred to the druids that used to live in Ireland. I also visited some Beech trees and thought about them and about how people have carved their names into them. I thought about what causes people to carve their initials into trees and what this act can tell us about people and nature and the world in general.