March 20, 2015 - 16:13
Today is the day of the March Equinox. The sun is shining directly on the equator, perfectly splitting night and day into equal lengths. Standing by the duck pond, under this thick March snowfall, it seemed that the night and day were blurred together, rejecting their stark divide. I’m not going to waste time complaining about the snow--as my friend at the Dining Center said, “why stress about things out of our control? You can’t stop the snow”. Instead I want to share with you a word I was reflecting on by the four stepping stones: imagination.
Imagination, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is defined as “the power or capacity to form internal images or ideas of objects and situations not actually present to the senses, including remembered objects and situations, and those constructed by mentally combining or projecting images of previously experienced qualities, objects, and situations.”
How incredible is it that we can project, experience, and embody senses that transcend reality? How incredible is it that I can close my eyes by the snowy duck pond and envision the warmth of summer sand between my toes? This class is called “Ecological Imaginings” right? Why write just about how we are perceiving the reality of a place? I could write about the color of the snow, the absence of chirping birds welcoming spring, or even slow transformation my pale hands underwent to become (a slightly alarming) blue at my Site Sit. But my mind was caught up in the promise of summer’s warm embrace. I can’t wait for the ocean spray to kiss my knees, or the stickiness of s’mores around a campfire.
This equinox is a turning point. I’m happy to wait for summer in my imaginations.