One of the biggest lessons I learned from the Paulson Fellowship and my two host countries is that I want how I am, what I get up to, how I engage with a place, to be influenced by the natural landscape where I am. I want to be firmly in a place, informed by my surroundings in that particular location. I don’t want to to homogenize my experience wherever I go by avoiding differences or discomforts in order to make myself comfortable. In Spain and especially in Ireland this past semester, I learned how a culture, from folk stories to academics, can truly be a reflection of the landscape around it. I want to harness that and bring it with me wherever I go.
I am very grateful to get to travel and for the experiences I’ve had these past two semesters, as well as moving between Wellesley and California, but the transitions can be hard for me. It can take a while for me to settle into each place, whether again or for the first time. It may sound like I should seek to smooth out the differences between these places to make it easier on me, but that would take away the point of travel. The truth is, I want who I am to be continuously informed by the places I’ve been. It makes me a more conscious traveler and human, connects me in a real way to the land I am on and to its inhabitants throughout history, and further inspires me to protect it. I want that to be regardless of how easy it is to make friends, or integrate into social life, or assimilate to a language or culture. The one thing I have in my control is how I relate to the natural world. Or maybe the point is to surrender to the lack of control I have in nature and let it take the wheel in informing my experience. In Spain, this philosophy helped me acclimate to a somewhat unfriendly social scene, and in Ireland, it greatly deepened my integration and sense of grounding in the local culture. It is also the philosophy at the foundation of my final project.
To synthesize my learning and to have an excuse to learn more about Irish natural folklore, I decided to draw and describe several native trees with immense cultural significance. Though there is a plethora of flowers, herbs, and other flora with incredible uses and history on the island, I decided to focus on trees to narrow the scope of my project and to highlight their unique importance in folklore, religion, practical use, and the history of Ireland (the first Irish alphabet was modeled after the land’s trees!). Ireland used to have forests covering 80% of the land, but that number has shrunk to 1% due to resource exploitation and to destructive warfare tactics. The Celtic, and specifically Irish, knowledge of their land and tree cover was of immense aid to them when defending against invaders, so the massive deforestation of the island was a tragic tactical move. Nowadays, there are widespread efforts to restore historical coverage and protect the remaining forests, but the stories and reverence for the trees have remained vibrant elements of Irish culture. Ireland’s trees are a powerful symbol of Irish resistance and potent sense of national identity, and my project seeks to capture even a fraction of the magic and wisdom they provide and have historically provided to Irish culture.
