Kelly Cooke: Lion's Bridge 11/5

The Lion's Bridge

Kelly Cooke

At the Lion's Bridge, I felt an awareness of all living and non-living things. Being instructed to explore things with my senses that I had thought to have already known. This relates John Gatta's idea of being mindful of "not only sedges, grasses, and trees, but also of rabbits, squirrels, domestic steers, mockingbirds, chickadees, starlings, carp, turtles, slugs, frogs, and snakes." I also felt that while evaluating all of the wilderness around us down to the details, an encounter occurred. We as a class didn't seek anything from the objects we stared and sensed. Instead, we saw them for what they are. This took the walk from an experience to a true encounter where we attempted to understand nature. I felt I had never done what is referred to as authentic seeing in the reading. Until minuscule details regarding the objects we stopped to evaluate were pointed out, I had never noticed them. I had never taken the time to authentically see plants, rocks, and soil for everything it was, but often only for what it appeared to be. 

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