Around Austin: June 2002 Archives
I was a senior in college when I took a class called "Nature Writing." We took a field trip to the Tanaguchi Gardens at Zilker Park; it was the first time I'd explored that part of the park, and I was sad that I hadn't found it sooner. There's something very relaxing to me about the sculpted tranquility of a Japanese garden. Since then, it's been my refuge when I've needed to ground myself, though I often forget about it when I need it most.
I found it again last weekend, and it took only minutes for me to find some spiritual calm. I decided to archive it as journalistically as I could, but I quickly hit a roadblock. To me, the gardens are about inner peace and feelings that go beyond my ability to express them. Journalism is, at its heart, intended to forgo feelings for facts and emotion for knowledge.
