The Peace of Wild Things

I was interested at looking at my capstone project though a broader lens. I was curious to find poems that explored a sense of peace, to think about the author's word choice and key aspects that come up when describing an experience poetically. This seemed relevant to my capstone as I am exploring a sense of calm in the car atmosphere.

I discovered Wendell Berry's poem, Peace of Wild Things.

"When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free (Berry 1985)."

This poem explores the emotional stress of a character. The author describes an intense emotional state of a person, feeling extreme anxiety, fear, and sadness. In this time of overwhelming emotion, the person connects with nature to regroup and find peace, as there is a stability and a shift of perspective. There is a moment of presence that the character feels as they escape their mind and see the beauty in nature. This idea resonates with my capstone project, as it offers a meaningful way to understand and respond to stress through mindfulness. It also raises an important design question: how might calming practices like being present and connecting with nature be translated into the environment of a car?

References:

Berry, W. (1985). The peace of wild things. In Collected Poems (North Point Press). Reprinted on Grateful.org. https://grateful.org/resource/the-peace-of-wild-things/

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