Reconnecting With Nature Experience

Along with this class I am taking the Honors College cluster class Environment, Technology and Values.  Taking these classes together is a great experience as I am able to connect different aspects of the two classes together, especially in writing.  I recently had an experience with this class that has inspired me to write a blog entry about it for this class.  Our teacher Sister Ginny scheduled a trip for us to go to the Transformations Spirituality Center on Nazareth’s Campus to take part in a program she wrote and has given classes in for years called Reconnecting with Nature.  I came into the experience wondering why I had to waste three hours sitting in nature on a Friday afternoon, but the experience was definitely one that changed my perspective of nature itself.  Sister Ginny began by giving us a map of the area that we would spending time in that afternoon and giving us some background on how the area came to be.  It was incredible to hear that she basically took this raw piece of land, created trails lined with planks and bridges, and planted greenery throughout most of her life.  I could not even imagine being able to see this area transformed over the years. 

When I was given the instructions that I would be spending the first half hour by myself in nature I was shocked and figured I would have to figure out a way to entertain myself for the time.  The idea of walking into nature by myself was astounding because as I started this half hour I could not even remember a time that I was in nature completely alone.   This first half hour went by so fast that I almost missed the time to meet back with the class.  It was very interesting to see what things I noticed while surrounded by nature entirely.  I found it to be extremely serene and that I felt at peace without any feeling of stress.  One thing that I noticed was the way the sun looked when it reflected off of different things found in nature.  This became very apparent to me when I got to what was called the babbling brook bridge and took a seat to watch the water.  It was very beautiful and peaceful to hear the sound of the water as I watched it rippling around in movement.  I remember feeling so stress free that when I got up from the babbling brook bridge and kept walking into the distance and heard the sound of traffic that I became annoyed that the outside noise was interfering with the sounds in nature.  Our class met up once again to discuss our experience before departing again for another half hour in nature by ourselves.  I took a different trail then I had the first time that ended up connecting with the trail I had been on the first time.  I actually ended up sitting back on the babbling brook bride again.  It was beautiful to watch the sand in the bottom of the brook move along with the water.  I ended up spending almost the full half hour back there at this spot again, and it was so peaceful that I felt at home in this spot.   Just being able to sit on this bridge for an hour took my stress away for the rest of the day.