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
 

Internal and External Landscapes

In Lopez's essay, he describes the relationship between internal and external landscapes. External landscapes are the natural, tangible world around us. Internal landscapes are in turn the way that we perceive these external landscapes on an individual level. In the context of the essay, Lopez argues that two people can hear the exact same rendition of an external landscape, but the way that they internalize this information is entirely based upon their own experiences with external landscapes they have encountered in the past. Thus, it is the job of the storyteller to create an external landscape that is detailed enough to get the story across, while allowing the listener to partake in the telling of the story by internalizing this information to make sense in an individual setting.

An example of my own personal connection to the idea of an internal/external landscape comes from a friend of mine who I would consider a fantastic storyteller. He has a way of describing an event by picking out the minute details that I would never have thought to include in an oral retelling of this event. These details are purposefully targeted towards his particular audience, as if to intrigue the listener and put them in this external landscape being described. He has a way of doing the work of internalizing the story for his listener, so depending on who the story is being conveyed to, the focus will shift to emphasize the portion of the tale that will capture the interest of the particular individual.

Lopez's Internal and External Landscapes

Lopez defines external and internal landscapes as the relationship between our surrounding environment and how we convey that to others. External landscapes can be seen as the physical world; what we immediately see, smell, hear in front of us. Internal landscapes, on the other hand, are more metaphysical. Two people can see the exact same thing yet their interpretations of what they are seeing may vary greatly. Lopez argues that for a narrative to reach its audience, it must hold some truth. To do so, the storyteller must describe the external landscape to the best of his abilities. Then, the audience’s internal landscapes can shape the story to their own understanding. For example, when we tell stories to our friends and family-which we do on a daily basis-we are attempting to get a point across. Whether that point is to entertain, inform or persuade, we cannot expect to reflect our internal landscapes directly on to our audience’s. We have to simply describe the external landscape of the story to the best of our abilities to allow our listener’s internal landscapes to align with ours.

Lopez'z Internal & External

All of us are doing the best we can at any given time, doing the best for ourselves and others with the information and development we have. Daily decisions are shaped by our life experiences, beliefs, and values. We are born into and raised in circumstances, without a choice. We are subconsciously influenced by parent's, friends and, events both positive, and negative in our formative years. This is what I believe Lopez means by internal landscapes, contrasting with, and complimented by external ones. For me an example would be when he writes "...the shape of the individual mind is affected by land as it is by genes."  Poverty for me was a circumstance, which influenced my external world, yet shaped my internal appreciation and gratitude for simple happiness and family. I remember waking up on a rainy morning in the garage we lived in, the seven of us, six kids and our Mom. It was raining hard outside, and whenever it did, water would leak from the bottom of the garage door opening. All of us rushed to put towels and block the water from coming in. I recall how we came together laughing, joking, and the smell of the rainwater on the concrete slab. We were happy, yet I recall how hungry we were at the time, and we still found joy. Out of all my memories as a child, I can honestly say, I was happiest then, when I was the poorest, and my land and surroundings were so very small. I believe Lopez means that we tell our own story based on places,facts, events, experiences, as well as our opinions and feelings we have about them.

Internal and External Landscapes

In Lopez's writing he differentiates between internal and external landscapes, which each themselves are not so difficult to grasp. Moreover, in this context, Lopez is more so trying to stress not one or the other but the relationship between the two, specifically how the development of the intangible internal landscape is a result of our tangible interaction with the external. Our external landscape is what we can feel, see, hear, touch and smell; observable in our surroundings, though, it is limited. One can only take so much from these interactions, but to fully process our external landscape so we may develop the internal, it is necessary to begin to understand the interactions and relationships taking place all around us. The internal landscape is the transcendental interaction of our experience with the land to the part of our consciousness manifested in thought, perception, emotion, will, memory, desire, and imagination; it knows no boundaries. I believe the exterior landscape that one dwells in molds the shape and character of one’s thinking; furthermore, I believe Lopez said it best when he said that this mold is most strongly ".. influenced by where on this earth one goes, what one touches, and by the patterns one observes in nature..." A personal example comes not from one specific moment but from a daily occurrence. Wherever I am, whoever I am with, whatever I am doing, nature consumes me like a curse and the fine line between passion and distraction becomes easier to lose. With each venture into the mountains, onto the open ocean, or into the wilderness, the desire to escape and explore the undiscovered grows exponentially and it becomes easier and easier to neglect (what some might call) priorities...

My Ethical Relationship to The Land

In the beginning there was Nothing, now there is Everything. What transpired between then and now has left many "things" lost and confused, humanity being one of them. Our rapid technological evolution and exponential growth have left us grasping at the edges of what we once knew as Nature. Can you feel it? The dying sighs of a bygone land, struggling to survive just as much as, if not more than, man himself. Oh to see the Earth as it once was, free not of evil but of willful ignorance. In our blindness we have begun tearing down the walls of our home, ripping out the very floorboards we rest upon, in hope of some hidden treasure lying right beneath our feet. And yet, as the irony and futility become increasingly well known, we make no move to stop our own self-inflicted misery. Instead we bicker amongst our petty egos, hiding behind dead metals and glaring lights. Gone are the peaceful miles of meadows, ripe with harmony and sweet with the scent of a billion new faces singing in the sun. Instead we have parking garages, shopping malls and discount dry cleaners. So I ask not what we should do, but if we will?

My Ethical Relationship to Land

When I was a kid in the eighties, there was a cartoon  that introduced a team of kids and the titular superhero  of the show "Captain Planet".   Each episode was about this group of heroes discovering some person or organization harming the earth in some way, whether it be by not recycling , improper toxic waste disposal, or any form of misuse or abuse of the planet and its resources. Up to this point in my cartoon watching career I was captivated by cartoons with otherworldly adventures, "HE-MAN", or  "Thunder Cats" . These shows were exciting and totally different from anything that could happen on our world of Earth. So after watching a show about saving our planet from Smog, deforestation, and harmful emissions into our ozone, I decided I was not a fan of this show at all.

Now you're  probably thinking "This guy does not care about the land at all!". Up until that point it wasn't that I did not care, in truth it was more like I did not know. You see  my upbringing socioeconomically, and culturally were devoid of information or discussion about anything related to a ethical relationship to land  or the impact to our surroundings. Familial relationships, friendships, religion, and recreational distraction or activities were our world focus. That's not to say my life was filled with negligent abuse or disrespect of our earth or its resources because we had our eyes on daily distractions or obligations. Thinking back I believe we did OK. We recycled cans, not to help our environment, but to make ends meet. We walked everywhere or took the bus, again not because of emissions, but because we had no car. So I guess you could say I had a inadvertently respectful relationship to my land as a youth.

So why did I dislike that cartoon so much? I believe it was because it put a face to dangers I never knew existed that could affect the world I lived in. My  reality, the possibility of land and resources as a finite thing, this was not another world it was here. I never watched again, because for a time I was safe in my naiveté, my worldview. Since then I have slowly been naturally educated in my travels outside of that world, by exposure to different cultures, experiences, and ways of living. I learned to respect and appreciate, and connect with a land in my own way

So today I recycle for a different reason , have one car but stay home most days, through my current world view and  my life experiences I do what I can. I appreciate and respect our land's beauty, and relish moments of connection with it, but more importantly live with compassion for our land as well as all creatures who reside on it.