David Blanton (Outside Reading)

In his book Place and Experience, Jeff Malpas explores the different factors that shape our experience of place. In the third chapter, "Holism, Content, and Self" he argues that our sense of identity and self is the lens through which we view experiences. Because of this concept, our sense of self is not only the consistent thread binding together our distinct experiences, but also the factor that shapes and defines our experiences of place. I think back to our class's discussion of what it was like coming to the cathedral at the end of the Camino de Santiago. We mentioned the difference between tourists and pilgrims, and it is apparent how that different sense of self as it pertains to the trail would result in a different experience of place. However, I think even within true pilgrims there exists different experiences of place. Deeper than different religions, backgrounds, or levels of communication, there exists an intimate level of intersubjective communication between the person and place. The singular person alone is fully in tune with their experience and relation to place, having lived through and seen how their life has culminated to this specific point. Although different people may be able to relate to another person's experience, empathy and friendship can only go so far much in translating the deep inner processes of a human. Identity and a sense of self shape our experience of place and is a deep and intimate part of the human psyche.