Reflection on the Class

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I signed up for this class, but I'm glad I took it.  I never really thought about doing any kind of nature writing, and I really felt out of place in the beginning of the semester.  As the term went on, I started to feel more and more comfortable.  I think it was pretty helpful that everyone in the class was so easy going.  I probably learned just as much from all of our readings as I did everyone in the class.  Like Sheryl said earlier in the semester, this class seemed to be really advanced and into nature writing, which helped me get more from the class.  Even though I'm not on the same level as everyone, I think it was nice to be that kind of environment.

As I continue to grow as a writer, I think it is more and more important to feel uncomfortable at times.  Putting myself into a new and different situation has only helped my writing.  I now have began to think about my writing differently and maybe focusing more on the natural world.  I don't consider myself a nature writer, but almost everything I write seems to deal with a certain place.  Grounding myself in whatever place it I'm writing about is just as important as the characters or what's going on in the story.  This class has given me a starting point for looking at the world in a different way - noticing the smallest details that the average person might not see.  I have started to use all of my senses in descriptions of setting.

The blogging exercises about place have been extremely beneficial.  Even though there have been weeks where I just didn't want to go to my place because of the weather, I gained an understanding of how one place can change or develop over an extended period of time.  I think it has been awesome to see my woods transform over the last fourteen weeks.  There's so much that goes over looked in nature.  Things that I used to just walk by.  Now, anytime I'm anywhere - walking Manny, driving, etc. - I pay closer attention to everything around me.  For example, after reading Nancy Gift, I couldn't walk up and down my street without noticing peoples' front yards.  I would pull Manny out of the yards with little chemical flags.  I held a sort of contempt for the yards that were trimmed and clean cut.  I imagined everyone's yard overgrown and free - something that only one could imagine.

When writing my nature essays, I gained more of an understanding of my past.  I became more aware of my past and where I come from.  This class has opened my mind to different doors that I may have never explored.  I even found myself learning things about myself and my family from drafting my essays.  I have always known about the things I've been writing about, but I have never dwelled on them or thought about how these things have shaped me as a person today.  Especially the environment around me and how that has affected me and my family.  The changing of land and scenery in the suburbs has had a profound affect on me.  Unlike the open spaces around the world where maybe I would have had a better connection with nature, the suburbs have created a barrier or some kind of block that has been getting in my way of this lost connection.

Overall, I was pleased with this class.  I think it's important for everyone to have a class like this even if they're not a nature writer.  The main point, I think, is learning how to write about place and immerse yourself somewhere.  Being able to bring people along to where ever you're going (at) is important for bettering your craft.