Eric Shulman on "Chora" Through the Use of the Nolan Trail

According to Lane, chora is “a term suggesting that certain sites carry their own vitality and presence. This involves a more personal, almost mystical understanding of a place as inviting those within to a choreographed dance of gathered meaning”. Lane is praising certain places where individuals feel a sense of spirituality and meaning carry their own existence among their surroundings and nature. In order for a place to be called a chora, individuals need to experience that place in an extraordinary way, meaning that place invites individuals in to dance with it. In my experience at the Nolan Trail, Lane’s theory of chora is correct. To me, all of the living things present within the Nolan Trail spoke to me in some sort of way. The trees, with the spring leaves growing on them, looked as though they felt a sense of happiness from the colorful leaves growing on the branches. Going across the Lion’s Bridge, I could hear the water flicker. This “flickering” noise the water made was evidence of happiness inside the water.