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Pages from Stacey’s Journal While reading Emily Dickinson, I was struck by the idea of mapping out my own, equally enclosed, space. While at school, I live in a dorm, which means that my personal space is severely limited. The head of my bed is in the corner of my room, with the wall on one side and my desk on the other. This is my enclosed sanctuary. From this spot, waking up, I catch the first rays of sunlight, fragmented by tree branches and sparkling on the river, through wide windows. I’m an insular person, so I suppose having such a compact space is a natural living arrangement. I’m literally surrounded by my books – they pile up beside my bed, under it, in the closet, all only a few feet away. It allows me to unwind in an almost protected environment, to prepare myself for the day. Everything that I need to survive for a semester at school, everything that brings me comfort and excites my mind, is within arm’s reach. As difficult as this living arrangement may be, there’s a degree of comfort in that knowledge. At home, I may have my own room with room to move about and a degree of privacy, but there is something in this seclusion, in having everything I need in such close quarters, that makes it equally appealing. I can see why Dickinson found the secluded life so appealing and, even though I do not wish to cut myself off from society, I do need these little enclosures, these quiet retreats, these contemplative places. I try and create my own insular world wherever I am, keeping my headphones on as I move through the crowd. I once wrote a poem that explained cramming my thoughts into the limited space of the margins of a page, and in many ways I feel like that is what I’m always doing – squeezing my own thoughts, my own life, into tight corners, always bordered my these great works of knowledge and art. |
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“American Transcendentalism: An Online Travel Guide” was produced by students in ENGL 446, American Transcendentalism, and ENGL 447, American Literature and the Prominence of Place: A Travel Practicum. These courses were team-taught in the Department of English at Shepherd College (now Shepherd University), Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in Spring 2002 by Dr. Patricia Dwyer and Dr. Linda Tate. For more information on the course and the web project, visit “About This Site.” © 2003 Linda Tate. |