Nature Journal 1

A few semesters ago, I enrolled in a religion class. The course title was “Understanding Religion: Communities – World Religion Through the Centuries” and I was only taking it to fulfill a core requirement for my degree. What I didn’t realize until the first few classes was how much we would be focusing on Native American spiritualities. Now, I can reflect on the class and see how it was a pleasant surprise because it has changed the way that I read Native American works or understand current events. Since spirituality is a main pillar of Native American life, we learned about how their beliefs affected their everyday life and actions. When reading the text from Luther Standing Bear, I was reminded of some of these things and I felt like I was better able to understand the context of Nature.

In class, we talked about world views and how the colonizers worldview compared with the Natives. Native people strive to live in balance with all the living things, and thus feel more connected to what is around them. They believe everything is equal, that their live is not more valuable than the trees or the animals. Standing Bear recognizes this difference, saying “The Indian and the white man sense things differently because the white man has put distance between himself and nature; and assuming a lofty place in the scheme of order of things has lost for him both reverence and understanding.” When I spend time outside, I don’t feel this interconnectedness or reverence of my surroundings; there are a few exceptions, like when I went to Yosemite Valley or the Himalayas. I only feel reverence when I am surrounded by nature that puts me in my place, that makes me confront my own insignificance.

Nature Observation 2

The white, puffy clouds span the bright blue sky, filling about half of the surface area of the dome above that surrounds everything below. The masses are moving west, slowly. The same wind that carries the clouds away blows through the trees near me, creating faint melodies by the leaves and fruit mingling in the boughs. The clouds are mostly white, but areas of grey give them a dimension that is imperceptible if one only glances at them. You have to really look to try and understand their shape. From below, we can only see a flat picture. By tracing the areas of grey and how the sun shines through them, we can create a mental image that is truer to their nature. It takes me a few minutes to really consider a cloud, and by the time I feel like I know it, it has moved across the sky.

Nature Observation 1

On a still, Texas morning, the trees do not move, and the air sits heavy - an unwelcome humidity. The trees outside my residence hall frame the building’s entrance. The modest common crape myrtle tree nearest to the entrance is at the end of a blooming season. The once pink, then white flowers have almost all fallen, leaving behind small, circular buds that blend in with the green leaves. The stump leads to four main branches, which gives way to many intertwined limbs and branches.  The bark is peeling away from the tree, leaving a swirl of clay red and dark, off-white spots. From afar the bark looks smooth, but when you touch the tree, you can feel the grainy texture.