Sorry for the absence guys, thesis and spring break are killing me! I had a fantastic break spent in Las Vegas, at the Grand Canyon, and finally at Villanova! Vegas was a blast, although it involved working (and making contacts to maybe get me a job!), but I actually really enjoyed the work. Maybe I am ready for the real world!
Anyway, here is a sketch I wrote for Poetry, Place, and Advocacy before I left for spring break that had somewhat a fictional element because I actually hadn’t been to the Grand Canyon yet! I’m working on my draft for after I went though, so look for that soon!
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Surrounded by the burnt orange walls of the canyons of Nevada, I can only think of the first time nature really took my breath away with the beauty of its power and desolation. Uluru is a large rock that rises out of a barren desert of the Australian outback. This canyon is the exact opposite. It is as if Uluru were turned on its head to make a mold, a deep ditch in a very different desert.
Walking through this American outback, not an inkling of humanity in sight, I feel like I am on my own personal walkabout. The Australian aboriginals understood the need to travel their own country to understand their connection to the earth, which they have always known as a living entity. I have traveled very far, to Australia and to Europe, but I’ve never seen some of the most famous landmarks of my own country.
One thing I have seen is how living in such a desolate area can bring unity to a community. Meeting the people of my host country, I knew they had the same love for Australia I felt for Texas. There is something about growing up with stark resources, in an area others consider unlivable, that brings a sort of pride when you manage to thrive there. As soon as I landed in Australia, saw the love the people had for the feet under their ground, I knew I would love it too.
Every day spent on the East Coast I long for that lonely desolation. With all the pressures of thesis and graduation, I have become enveloped in work. Every day I have a “To Do” list. Every time I cross something off, I add something else on. There is barely any time for me, my personal thoughts. Every second of every day is filled with work and school and worries. Finally, it is spring break and I am with my family and best friend in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing.
As I listen to my footsteps echo in the vast emptiness, I smile. I am on my own walkabout. Away from the pressures of normal life. I am leaving behind my normal responsibilities and taking on the aboriginal responsibilities of reconnecting with the earth, with my loved ones, and with myself.
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This sketch has come quite a ways and is going in a million different directions, so be prepared for something completely different in a few days!
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