Noland Trail Journal Entry
"Separate world"
Upon first encountering the trail with the rest of our class, I failed to perceive that my surroundings were apart of a much more sacred experience. The intimidation of the tall equestrian statue, in its glorious roman realism, at the start of the trail, reminded me that I was still present in civilization. Still present in a world where humankind attempts to tame the wild. When our class stopped at a towering redwood tree, I found myself completed entranced by a nearby animal trail. The animal trail did not appear very noticeable, but the path led down past the redwood tree and towards the peaceful edge of Lake Maury. At that moment I became aware that I had walked into a separate world; a world where animal and plant life flourished independent of human corruption. I recalled a passage from Landscapes of the Sacred, which described that Sacred Places are "transformed by the imagination to that which is awe-inspiring and grand" (Lane 29). By shifting my view from ignorance to recognition, I experienced the animal trail as a component of a sacred place. I left the Noland trail with a new spiritual experience, and gained a richer outlook on the trail as a separate world.
Upon first encountering the trail with the rest of our class, I failed to perceive that my surroundings were apart of a much more sacred experience. The intimidation of the tall equestrian statue, in its glorious roman realism, at the start of the trail, reminded me that I was still present in civilization. Still present in a world where humankind attempts to tame the wild. When our class stopped at a towering redwood tree, I found myself completed entranced by a nearby animal trail. The animal trail did not appear very noticeable, but the path led down past the redwood tree and towards the peaceful edge of Lake Maury. At that moment I became aware that I had walked into a separate world; a world where animal and plant life flourished independent of human corruption. I recalled a passage from Landscapes of the Sacred, which described that Sacred Places are "transformed by the imagination to that which is awe-inspiring and grand" (Lane 29). By shifting my view from ignorance to recognition, I experienced the animal trail as a component of a sacred place. I left the Noland trail with a new spiritual experience, and gained a richer outlook on the trail as a separate world.
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