The Beholding Eye
Don W. Meinig (an American geographer and professor) states in his essay Beholding Eye: Ten Versions of the Same Scene, “Thus we confront the central problem: any landscape is composed not only of what lies before our eyes but what lies within our heads.” He is arguing that we cannot as people, look at a landscape and see the same thing. Now sure we can all visibly see the same area. Yet we cannot see the emotion or ideas that come with these places; the way we look at these places are changed by our thoughts or feelings of them. Landscape is somewhat subjective in that sense.
A common landscape I’d like to discuss is hospitals. Most people have been to a hospital in their life. Like when they were born, or going to a routine checkup, or maybe they work there. Either way most people have been to a hospital, and they play a big role in tons of people's lives. Hospitals are designed to be a safe space and a place where a person can expect to get professional care. Not everyone tends to be completely content with going to a hospital though.
Tons of people dislike hospitals, which is to be expected. If you ask these people about why they might not like hospitals, many reasons come up. They might look at a hospital and think of getting a flu shot, or a painful surgery. They might think of the dread of staying at a hospital for a long period of time and not knowing when they might go home. Or it might remind them of a place of loss, loss of a family member, or someone close to them. Hospitals don’t always have to be looked at in a bad light yet, a lot of people do see them that way.
But some people like hospitals, they might see them as a safe space, with trained professionals to check up on them. Or they might see them as a place to try to keep a person safe and healthy. Some people even see hospitals as a place of rehabilitation. They could be recovering from surgery and feel supported and taken care of. There are good views of hospitals out there, it just depends on who is looking at them.
While other people might work at a hospital. Hospital workers might be able to see both the good and the bad parts of a hospital. They might see hospitals as just their workplace. They go in for their shift, leave, and so on. It’s normal for them to be there. Yet it really does depend how a person feels internally about the landscape. A doctor at a hospital might be happy to be there because it’s their dream job. Or on the other hand, a doctor could feel dread, having to work another twelve-hour shift at a hospital they are not fond of.
Views of a landscape will be different for everyone. As well as feelings and thoughts can contribute to the way a landscape might exist in a person’s mind. It’s important to see how every landscape can be affected by a person’s mindset, or perspective. It’s also important to note that this doesn’t just go for hospitals. Any landscape, whether it be a park, a random field, or a college. Places in our lives are often seen by us, with the feelings that are attached to them. We make every landscape what it is, and that’s why Don W. Meinig refers to the way we see landscapes as “The Beholding Eye.”
