For my second writing project I chose to write about an encounter I had with a grizzly bear this past summer. Deep in the Waddington Range of British Columbia, nearly a hundred miles from the nearest road I came face to face with a large male grizzly bear. The story explains my thoughts and reactions immediately after seeing the bear and how I came away to tell the tale. The interesting thing about the grizzly narrative is that it is a story I have told many time yet I have never put it into words. The more of the story I wrote I found myself realizing details which I often passed by when telling the story in person. For the first draft I wrote out the story exactly as it happened without focusing on developing a final conclusion or so what. After I moved onto the second draft my main goal was to capture the feeling of being present and in the moment. To get this point across I emphasized describing every detail of the encounter. Through this I produced an underlying message which is that very little of the time we are present and in tune to our surroundings. I was able to get my ideas across through 3 different drafts. Between each there is an evident progression in my ideas. Throughout the piece I also mentioned a poem by Robert Hastings named "The Station" which encompasses this idea very well. You can read the poem and my first and final draft of the piece below.
THE STATION |
OTHER LITERARY COMPONENTS |
Tucked away in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long, long trip that almost spans the continent. We're traveling by passenger train, and out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hills, of biting winter and blazing summer and cavorting spring and docile fall.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. There sill be bands playing, and flags waving. And once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true. So many wishes will be fulfilled and so many pieces of our lives finally will be neatly fitted together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering ... waiting, waiting, waiting, for the station. However, sooner or later we must realize there is no one station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. “When we reach the station that will be it!” we cry. Translated it means, “When I'm 18, that will be it! When I buy a new 450 SL Mercedes Benz, that will be it! When I put the last kid through college, that will be it! When I have paid off the mortgage, that will be it! When I win a promotion, that will be it! When I reach the age of retirement, that will be it! I shall live happily ever after!” Unfortunately, once we get it, then it disappears. The station somehow hides itself at the end of an endless track. “Relish the moment” is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. Rather, it is regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today. So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot oftener, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough. -Robert J. Hastings |
In addition to writing the narrative I did a fair amount of reading during this project. Instead of reading a book like I had done in the previous project I chose to focus on reading outdoor-based short stories because they connected to my topic much better. Additionally I found the Outside Podcasts, which are a series of outdoor stories shared in a very personal way. Each podcasts I listened to I began to see ways I could connect my audience with my writing.
To see more about each piece I read and the podcasts I listened to check out my annotated bibliography where I give a description of each. |