A Solitary Walk
05/10/2020
A World Reawakened
An Introspective Walk Through a Park
“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily
the remembrance of things as they were.”
—Marcel Proust
Finding nature was harder than I thought it would be. In a city consumed by building and development, it is so simple to look at the tree outside and deem that all the nature you need. Though I wanted the full experience of this assignment, and if a trip to Blue Hills Park is required for me to broaden my definition of nature from a tree to what it truly is, so be it. I was willing to trek to a park, but it got me thinking, what was the real essence of this assignment? A walk in nature would typically clear your head, transition you from the life dictated by screens to one without, but instead of doing exactly that, this park was able to transition me from a world of screens, but flood my mind into a mirage of nostalgia.
The memories came like a downwards cascade, and for every good one, an unwarranted sliver of self-pity consumes me even as I try to look at the bright side of my situation. I think to the time I invited my closest friends to play with me in the park, and I ended up running into one of my school friends, who persuaded us all to play a big game of soccer. I think to the time I was forced to enter my neighborhood soccer league, and even though our team may have been the worst on the pitch, we understood the true essence of this league, and that is to have fun. Then in relation to those memories comes the ones I was bound to make; the ones that kept me going through the school year; the ones that made each assignment seem easier and easier, the summer before high school. Though look where that thinking got me. All that anticipation of recreating what has come and gone now put to waste. Many say that reality is the farthest from logical, but in reality also lies the truth, a lesson to be learned.
There I am, in a state of confusion. I came here to clear my mind, but really I came out with more, more than I was when I came in. Whether that was the purpose of the assignment, I am still unsure, but regardless, I would have to think it over.
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