By Anonymous
- After finishing my homework for the day, I celebrate by numbing my mind to social media. Tik tok provides the perfect escape from reality. Animals doing funny things, people cooking interesting recipes, jokes and silly skits…everything you need to dissociate from reality. Time flies by as I scroll through video after video. Each one may be only a few seconds or minutes long, but it feels much longer. Impatient, I skip through some videos to the end, not even wanting to wait ten more seconds. Although the amount of information being consumed is extensive, I feel relaxed. I send some videos to friends so that we can laugh about the content together later. To some friends I send videos of cute animals, to others videos about decorating apartments, and to some I send videos of people doing stupid things with the message “this is you”.
- It is cold outside, I do not like the cold. I would normally go inside as soon as possible if the weather is under fifty degrees. Sometimes my knees even hurt when it’s too cold outside, but not today. I sit on a bench outside my apartment building, watching life around me. Although the busy street is nearby, I notice bird songs and the sound of wind in the trees. The more time I spend out there, the more I notice that I hadn’t before. Animal tracks in the snow, squirrels running through the trees and digging for nuts, the sun reflecting off of the ice, even the crunch of humans walking through the snow is a lovely sound. But it is too cold just to sit around and observe. I try to keep active and walk around until I go inside.
- Overall, this assignment has taught me to spend less time on social media/the internet and more time exploring the “real world”. While media may provide a temporary escape from reality, it becomes overstimulating and can eventually cause stress. In moderation I believe media is a healthy outlet, especially if you seek out useful information rather than nonsense. For example, some videos I saw taught me new recipes and cooking techniques. There is nothing wrong with media if you are consuming useful information and/or consuming in small quantities. Even though I dislike the cold, it is still an enjoyable experience to be outside in nature. This exercise also made me think about how we as a society view nature. Most of us take for granted all the things that occur in our environment. As someone who enjoys hiking and camping, I realized that even in those situations we focus on getting to the destination rather than enjoying the journey. When we take the time to notice all the little details it’s not only enjoyable but also educational. Animal tracks in the snow can be traced back to the type of animal, where it’s headed, and much more. In the past noticing these tracks could mean the difference between no dinner and a hearty meal. Maybe this is not necessary today, but the focus of all of our senses on the world around us allows for new experiences and a heightened sense of appreciation.