Poignant Landscapes: Reflections on Pain, Beauty, Belonging, and Being Human

What is behind the modern soul's quest for meaning in life? In the search to find belonging in our cultures, lovability in our relationships, worthiness in our economic and political systems, and sacredness through the worshipping of all things between technology and nature, what is it that we are truly looking for? Even the uninspired among us cannot help but be mesmerized by beautiful landscapes, find reassurance in calming landscapes, and be in awe of the force of nature in powerful landscapes. But how often do we stop to contemplate the existential relationship we have with these landscapes? In the liminality of poignant landscapes, that is, the space between the external landscapes that move us and the psychological landscapes that guide us, is a portal to life's most profound questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Who do I want to be? And what world do I want to live in? Using the negative space found in language, ecophilosopher Van Thi Diep delicately weaves together insights from her academic research study on place-making and what it means to flourish as a landscape architect with personal ruminations on self-acceptance, belonging, and healing social trauma. Through these reflections, she invites you on a vulnerable yet courageous journey to look inside the poignant landscapes that shape our individual soul paths as well as the ones we all share as humans here on Earth together. In the wisdom of these poignant landscapes is the permission to feel the pain of being human, to be loved exactly as we are without conditions, and to be inspired by the sacredness of life. This collection of short essays, poetry, and photographs wistfully mirrors the fluidity of landscapes by transcending the binaries of intellectualism and emotionality, inner and outer world experiences, individual and collective existence, to return to what the modern soul wants most: the knowing that true belonging does not exist outside of us, but instead, is found intuitively within.