Jackie Luu
I am reading through an assigned pdf article for a class using my phone while simultaneously listening to people play videogames on Twitch. This multitasking is probably not the most efficient or productive way to complete my homework assignments. However, I am not in any hurry at the moment (it is the once every month miracle of me not procrastinating), so I allow myself to be distracted by watching the videogame in between every several sentences I read. The article is interesting, though also very dense and complicated, and I find myself reading bits aloud to keep myself a tad bit more focused. Then I turn my attention back to the videogame where the streamers are playing a chill, virtual farming simulation with some mining and spooky skeletons and slimes here and there.
In a small park near my hometown, I venture along a snowy, ice-laden trail while accompanied by my shivering little chihuahua. It is a cold day, and the trail is soupy with mud. Piles of remaining snow and raindrops fall from the trees hovering around the trail, one particularly large drop landing at the apex of my tiny companion’s head who shakes his fur in dismay. I can feel the frigidness of the air as I inhale and hear the crunch of the ice and the slosh of the mud under my tennis shoes. The surroundings are very empty and still, though we pass by a couple of other people, each with their own fluffy little companions. Tiny flakes of snow continue to fall at first but then fade away by the end of my journey outdoors.
One thing I noticed is that I seemed to focus on different senses through the two different experiences. For the media consumption experience, I mainly employed my senses of sight and hearing. I used my eyesight to read off my phone and watch the video, and my hearing to listen to my own voice read the words aloud and to the sounds coming from the video. Although, I used touch to scroll through the pages on my phone, I did not pay attention to the sensation of the phone screen on my fingertips. In contrast, when I was outside, I also noticed the visuals and the sounds, but a lot of the sensations I experienced focused on touch. For example, I noted the feeling of the cold air on my skin and the frigidness when I inhaled. This makes me wonder if by engaging in the digital world, I am losing touch with certain senses that I seem to experience more when I am connected with nature.