External and Internal Landscapes

  In Lopez's "Landscape and Narrative" he speaks to the language of of the physical world as well as the language of the spirit.  More importantly he speaks to the connection between the two and its importance.
  The external landscape is everything that physically surrounds us.  At a basic level it is everything that we can perceive with our senses, whether or not we have the language or understanding to define them.  It is a feeling of order, a certain correctness in the living world when we hear a bird sing, see a sunrise, feel the sand between our toes.  You may not be able to speak to the physics behind a rainbow, but you can be just as certain of its validity and existence as someone who can.  The internal landscape is a reflection of the external landscape, embellished and smudged by our own histories and perceptions.  The sensory memory of a dense wood is colored differently by the person who wanders through it with idle curiosity versus the person who runs through it to escape some perceived threat.  Both can tell a true story about that wood as they passed through it at the exact same time, and both will paint a very different - though no less authentic - tale.
  Lopez stresses the point that, though there may be minor factual errors or oversights in the telling of an event, there must be that correctness to the physical landscape of the story.  The storyteller must believe in what they are conveying because without that authenticity, there cannot be a depth of connection between listener and teller.  The listener will not be able to internalize what the teller is trying to share.  If the teller is able to successfully recreate an event, even those with no direct association with the topic will be able to find meaning and understanding in it.  The story will also help color their own internal landscapes.

  I have done quite a bit of work in Wyoming over the years but I have yet to see the portions of the state that are popularly considered "beautiful."  The areas where I have been would more readily be classified as "remote", or "barren".  When I first began working in these areas, I would have agreed with those descriptors.  But then I'd see a tiny pink flower growing out of the rocky dirt, or watch a hawk circling for prey, and I began to realize that "beautiful" was also a truth of these places.  My perception and observation of the physical landscape redrew my internal landscape, adding a deeper understanding to the complexity of that single word: beauty.  Conveying that new understanding through telling is difficult.  Though I am speaking my own truth, most people's perception of Wyoming is of the I-80 corridor and that internal snapshot speaks more loudly than I do.  Convincing them that the ridges and plateaus covered in sagebrush and pine trees is anything other than boring is a tough battle and I have received my fair share of eye-rolls.  I have not yet found the right language to truly convey my internal landscape, but I find that within me is a need to keep trying.

Jenean Roberts