Karl Brown 10/4 Landscapes of the Sacred Reading 2

One of the most pulling parts of this entire reading for me is by far the section concerning the Vietnam War memorial. Although a lot of this class I have not had an extensive outside personal connection to, the memorial is in multiple ways a notable part of my life. As a Washingtonian I have had countless experiences driving by the memorial and watching others interact with it. I have even experienced it firsthand, walking alongside its black walls and absorbing its larger than life statues. I also have a close family friend who is a veteran that suffers from PSTD and mental illness as a result of chemical warfare during the war who visits on Christmas and Thanksgiving. I have heard tales from the war from a firsthand survivor and met someone who is directly connected to this memorial.

One of the things that fascinated me most is the idea that a sacred place could be made almost entirely artificially, set aside completely from longstanding natural formations and what my prior misconceptions of what constraints sacred places were held under. Also, there seems to be the lack of a direct religious or spiritual attachment, or at least potential for one to occur. However, after reading the author cite the 6 moments of nature for a subject to actively perceive a landscape by Edward Casey, it became clear to me that the Vietnam War memorial truly was a sacred place. I don’t think that I could have the same experience the author had; I do not know anyone who gave their lives I could realize in a vision-like moment. Regardless, I now intend to return to this convenient to access location and attempt to actively perceive the landscape, as described in the text, in a manner I had prior overlooked.

My favorite concept from the reading was by far topas and chora. The idea that a location could be transformed from mere location to an energizing intimate spot by result of an experience makes perfect sense to me. I can think of locations that I walked past countless times, but after one single act in my life now evoke emotions and are a part of me that I could never forget. The definite quick change as a result of specific, tangible events seem logical to me. But I wonder if the transformation from topas to chora can happen over time. For example, walking down my street in my house back home when all the flowers are in full bloom creates a sense of home, peace, that I belong, beauty, other indescribable emotions, etc. But it was not a specific experience during any one walk that did that to me, nor was it the first time I beheld the street in its beauty. Rather, the topas to chora transition happened over years and years of living there in that house and going on those walks. So now I wonder, is it possible for the transformation from topas to chora to happen over a significantly long period of time of exposure to a certain location (not simply limited to a specific event occurring)? My own experience leads me to question the criterion under which a location can become chora to oneself or others.