Reflections

I set out on my first day of being outside biking to a secluded spot along Monument Creek. I hadn’t ridden my bike for awhile, and the exercise felt freeing. On my ride I realized I wanted to try being outside in different places at different times. I wanted to observe nature and my mind in as diverse of settings as possible.

I pulled up to a bench in a park, sat down, and began meditating. I noticed that I was easily distracted by my phone and obligations. However, having time dedicated to myself in a green space felt amazingly liberating. It felt very different than time spent relaxing on campus. The wind blew, and I inhaled the fresh air with satisfaction.

On the second day I decided to walk to Monument Creek instead. I felt impatient trying to cross busy Uintah street. This was my time to relax, not to breath in air pollution from cars. I had not foreseen transportation as an obstacle for time when planning my daily hour in nature. Once I reached the creek, I remembered how manipulated by humans it has been from my studies in geology. The creek appeared as a natural object though, and was the closest I was going to get to a complete ecosystem in the area.

I did walking meditation along the banks of the creek. I then took off my shoes and waded across, feeling the cold water push against my thighs. I had anticipated finding a cleaner more natural area on the other bank. I was wrong. The non-trail side of Monument Creek was full of trash. I sat down in a field of cups, bags, old clothing, and parts of an old air conditioning system. I opened up Walden and began reading:

“Sometimes, having had a surfeit of human society and gossip, and worn out all my village friends, I rambled still farther westward than I habitually dwell.” -Henry David Thoreau

I wondered why I hadn’t explored the creek more since coming to CC. I had walked along its banks when I visited as a prospective student. I had been under the impression that I would come here on a regular basis. I was glad to rediscover this space, being away from campus felt both exhilarating and calming.

Walking back to campus, I came across a lost dog. There was no owner in sight. I brought her back to campus. Had I not been practicing mindfulness in nature, I doubt I would have noticed the dog, or had enough compassion to temporarily adopt her. I’m not a dog person, but our studies in animal ethics and visit to the zoo had impacted my personal values around animals.

My virtue of awareness had heightened enough to notice the dog - who hadn’t made a single noise. The silent dog, a female corgie named Lotus, ended up belonging to a family whose house a couple miles away had burned down. I remembered Kant’s writings, and his ideas around caring for animals in order to better our human relationships.

Over this weekend I spent time leading an ORC trip to the sand dunes. It felt good being outside for an extended period of time - it recaptured what I had experienced over spring break. Enabling others to share my experience felt virtuous as well. Over all of these experiences I thought about virtue ethics and deep ecology. The degree to which I enjoyed spending time in nature, becoming increasingly aware of my environment, and sharing my experience with others has strongly enhanced my environmental virtues. Being stuck in the city, however, made connecting to natural areas on a deep ecological area more difficult. Once I made it to the sand dunes, I felt myself becoming part of the wind, dune beetles, and magnetite. I came back to CC with a different frame of mind, and definitely a broadened sense of “I”.