I often find that I have to remind others why I travel to the UK each year (or as often as I can), and specifically why I keep returning to Oxford.
If you know me, you know that I am always thinking (sometimes I am in my head too much, but that's another musing.) I am always seeking to know more by reading or listening to engaging talks. When I go on a long holiday somewhere, I am not one who lounges by a pool or beach. That might be some people's ideal, but I want to learn, think, and grow and that doesn't stop on a break. I realize that is not what everyone wants when they take a holiday somewhere. I've always been different, going against the grain, and I am okay with that. It can be a challenge, though, as I explain to others.
For me, it is important to do things that are meaningful and thoughtful. So when I go somewhere, if it's within my ability, I want to seek out the places of meaning. In Oxford, much of that stems from history - literary, religious, scientific, architecture, etc. My interest in these categories is deep, which means that when I go, I want to spend time in the places that inspired my favourite authors, I want to learn about the discoveries made in Oxford that propelled art, astronomy, book publishing, music, science. I want to learn about the historic buildings and spend time in them, I want to worship in the ancient spaces that have been there for many centuries, and I want to encounter the stories of religious changes and leadership that took place right there. Every spot has a story to tell.
While Oxford itself has become so familiar to me, it still summons awe in me every time I walk the streets, every time I listen to a classical concert, every time I sit in on a lecture, and every time I get to talk with a local for a little bit. I am not only learning more about a place, a history, and a culture, I am expanding my own horizons and experience as I hear other viewpoints. Through all of that, I am becoming more aware of who I am and what I believe in the context of the world.
Oxford always has a way of making you think - whether you browse in a museum, listen to locals talk in a pub, or attend an evensong service. Your mind will be engaged to think. In a truly Oxford way, to think more truly for yourself. Not just adopting a cultural norm because it's there and it's easy, but thinking and digging into your own view to develop your own opinion.
If you are a student at Oxford, it is obviously hugely important to develop and be adept at expressing your opinions and then arguing them fully with critical thinking and research. Students spend hours and hours every day sitting in the medieval libraries of Oxford with stacks of books on a topic they are writing about. They have to think about how they are going to write about that topic.
When I tread in the footsteps of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, John Wesley, John Ruskin, etc I imagine them walking down the same lane on the way to give a lecture, or meet with students, or have a cup of tea with friends. I think about how they produced amazing writings that I have read and re-read, perhaps working out an idea in their head as they walked down the serene path such as Addison's walk in woods along the river, taken a punt down the river, a walk through St. Mary's Passage to get somewhere, or a peaceful stroll through the Botanic Garden. And my soul is filled with inspiration.
Perhaps that is part of why I love Oxford. I love to think, and I love to make people think. Oxford does the same.
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