Nature and Art

Growing up, I had every Disney movie you could think of. I know it sounds silly, but I believe I got most of my ideas from those films. I watched The Little Mermaid countless times, and today my favorite place to be is the beach. Another favorite was Robin Hood. The movie romances the forest depicting valiant rescue and love scenes. I guess this had always led me to believe forested areas are somewhat magical.
I feel that popular culture has so much impact on the way society thinks and behaves. For instance, t-shirts with clever sayings urging the population to "recycle" or "go green" are more a fashion statement than a cause piece. More and more television shows directed at the elemenatry audience are incorporating lessons such as not littering and recycling. America is now feeling the affects of purchasing large SUV's through pollution problems and gas prices. However when owning larger vehicles was popular no one thought twice about the environment.
Art is also influencial, but not as much as popular culture. Art pieces are directed at a certain groups of Americans, while popular culture infleunces and reaches every citizen.

I love Damien Rice

Aimee is awesome.



She loves sundresses.

My Personal View On Nature

Like many Americans, I have many Judeo-Christian beliefs. I know this must affect my view on nature in a round-about way, but I have yet to feel negatively toward the subject. When I think of nature I simply think of the outdoors. Fields, more specifically. Growing up my family was not one to camp or hike. The most nature intensive activity we took part in was skiing. I believe this has had the most impact on my opinion of nature thus far.
During skiing trips our family would stay in a log cabin near the rim with another family. All of the children would be allowed to play and explore outside for hours at a time. I remember cutting through the neighborhood and crawling under a fence to take our first of many exploratory hikes into the rim. We stumbled upon trees with colored ribbons in them. At the time we did not know they were markers for trees to be removed, rather we thought they were fun to collect. The competition started. The goal was to be the one with the most ribbons. After fourty-five minutes of running through thick pine trees we found ourselves out of breath and lost. After realizing not one of us knew where we were the ribbon count was no longer important. We were four kids surrounded by trees on all sides, jagged rocks sticking out of the earth, and a quickly sinking sun. After a slight panic attack and wondering around for what seemed like hours we finally made it out to the road.
As a child I was one to freak out quite unprovoked needless to say I was breathless until we reached the cabin. Once the fear dissapated I found myself annoyed. How could we enjoy the forest so much only to be swallowed into it's belly? After that trip my attitude towards nature changed. I was no longer one to initiate exploration, but settled on tagging along. I was no longer in awe of it's serene beauty, but aggravated with it's vasteness and complexity.
Knowing this many wonder why I am majoring in Parks and Recreation Management. I feel I have done an injustice to our environment. I have never purposefully disrespected my surroundings, but lacked appreciation for it. I hope to come to terms with and gain respect for nature and the wilderness.