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Published on Visualizing Ecology (http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecofall)

Elisa Otter

One of the main things that resonated with me while reading A Trail Through Leaves, was again, this idea of the Beginner’s Mind. Hinchmen writes, “Some of the moments are repeated regularly, so regularly that they fade into the background and out of awareness, the way city people cease to hear traffic noise. Your task is to bring them back into awareness, and acknowledge them as the gift they are” (79). By allowing my established prejudices to subside and actually observing my surroundings, detail by detail, as Hinchmen suggests, would really help me notice the everyday miracles that I take for granted. I like the idea of taking time to go on a nature walk, or anywhere really, (actually, an everyday setting would be the most interesting I think, to really scrutinize and examine a setting taken so easily) and observe and record in detail all the nuances that I overlook. These detailed exercises would certainly heighten my awareness and help train my Beginner’s Eye.

However, while reading I couldn’t help but think, ‘how does this lady have time for all this and is she actually living?’ Constanly recording my surroundings feel takes me out of the moment and out of my life. There was a period of time where I kept a regular journal and spent my day aware of my daily entries. Although that mind set often made me notice new details, I found myself obsessing over what I was going to record. The journal actually started taking over my mind and whenever something drew my attention or I had an interesting thought, all I could think about was recording that down in my journal. So for the next hour, my mind was occupied only with writing down what I had experienced--almost stealing that hour from me. For me, this was not a healthy practice. I could only think in terms of my journal instead of reality and the present moment. It’s like people waiting in Paris as the Tour de France races by, and just standing there with their camera screen in front of their face, watching the race go by through a screen. They may as well have stayed at home in front of the TV. The idea of constantly reflecting and recording creates a wall between me and my life…living to record instead of living to live.

I still keep a journal that I write in to help me process a struggle I’m having or a thought I need to think through. Writing through a circumstance helps me find the core of my conflict or question. For these things, a journal is an invaluable tool. I also plan to do some of Hinchman’s isolated excersises, but for everyday life, I’d rather live than record.

JackMcGeeTrailthroughtheleaves › [0]

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