Sept 12th In-Class Flower Garden Experience - Todd Redman
Sometimes, it is a required experience that helps nudge
us towards a meaningful interaction with nature. On September 12th, we enjoyed an
unorthodox class session for Treks and Texts.
In the afternoon at 2pm, we reviewed Abbey’s works and nature
writing. Although he does not think of
himself as a leader, I find him admirable in his pursuit to escape the concrete
jungle of civilization and find ‘heaven’ in nature, and I believe he is an
encouraging example for all of us to follow and reconnect with the outdoors.
With most classrooms, the exploration of a philosopher’s
ideals are left merely to textbook and notes, with no actual engagement. However, our ‘Experimental’ course is the
exception. Our professor told us to take
a trip outside, about 10-15 minutes, to engage with nature, take some
photos. The goal would be to connect
what we see with a quote from Abbey, or another quote that resonates with
nature. I went with two peers outside,
and suggested we head to the Veteran’s Plaza.
It is within range of sight, and it contained a beautiful assortment of
flowers. This was an optimal place of
nature to engage with, but I also had my mind on it for another reason, that I
often had to rush by this area of campus to get to my classes, and therefore
never spent too much time immersing myself in the garden.
The garden was beautiful.
To the side of the memorial plaques where veterans from TCU that fought
in wars, was a patch of flowers. These
flowers were a variety of purple shades, and in the middle of the patch was a
rectangular section of green bush or fern.
In retrospect, I realize that these flowers have a deeper meaning. The flowers are appealing in their
arrangement due to their varied colors, but they always remain purple, the
symbol of our school, our pride and passion.
At a memorial honoring veterans from TCU who made the ultimate sacrifice
in wars such as Vietnam, purple is a patriotic and emotional color and best fit
for this place. This also makes me
realize how even nature can be used as a form of art or messaging by humans, to
make a meaningful scene such as this ‘garden plaza’.
We decided to create our own quote to capture the beauty
of the garden, rather than constrain it to a pre-made quote. We said something along the lines of that
“the flowers help the inner butterfly in us blossom”. Our initial idea behind the quote was that
the beautiful flowers should be a focus of the message we wanted to create, and
we saw some monarch butterflies among the flowers, so we decided to connect
those two gorgeous images together into something meaningful for the people
enjoying the view. The concept of people
blossoming in the world was inspirational, but in retrospect, I have discovered
another meaning to this. The fact that
veterans have fought for our freedoms so that we can live our lives in peace
means that we are only able to blossom due to their great sacrifice, adding a
level of gratitude for me as I observe the beautiful flower garden.
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