By: Bianca Sanchez
For my first hour, I spent it at the Manassas Battlefield. Since I sometimes go running there with music, I wanted to see how much of a difference it would be to go there with no music or distractions at all. When I got there, I did my stretching and then began to walk. I noticed that there was not that many people there like there usually is. This was probably because it was a Monday morning so a lot of people were probably at work. Since I was by myself, I walked the trail that I am used too and more confortable with. It was so hot outside that as soon as I started walking, I already felt my skin start to burn. I was also wearing all black which made it worse. I did not run like I normally do because I had blisters on my feet from walking around in my heels that weekend, so I just walked. I could clearly hear all the bugs around me and I found myself quickly turning to the grass or the trees everytime I heard something. It was probably just a squirrel or bug but still, I was scared that something would jump out of at me. As I kept walking, I got to this one part of the trail where I remembered how last summer when I went running, I almost got hit by a deer who was running the same direction I was. As soon as I thought about that deer, a huge bug hit my face. It had to be a cicada or some kind of big bug because it felt big when I brushed it off my face. I said hi to a couple of people as we walked past each other. There was this one point where I was all by myself and I could hear some banging from the distance, probably from construction near by. There was one bang that was so loud that I heard some birds start to chirp and fly around because of the noise. I tried to run a couple of times but my blisters would not allow me. After my hike, I quickly checked my phone to check the time and I saw that I still had about 10 minutes, so I went to a bench and sat there. I had already been sweating, so the breeze that I felt from sitting under a tree felt amazing. I then just observed the trees around me and looked at the ants that were in the grass. The sky was blue and the birds were chirping and I just felt very at peace. I took some deep breathes and then walked back to my car.
For my next hour, I spent it at my house. I had my tv on because I wanted to finishing watching The Shining, but I found myself getting distracted while watching it. As I was watching the movie, I kept having to pause the movie because I would go on my phone and look up the actors and see what other movies they are in. I always tend to look up the actors in almost every movie I watch for some reason. As I was watching the movie, I started scrolling through social media as well. I would go on instagram and watch stories, and then I would come back to watching the movie. I tried to keep focusing on the movie, but I kept getting tempted to go on my phone out of habit. That is when I realized that my phone is a big distraction. I feel like I could enjoy a movie better, or anything in general, if I did not have my phone there as a distraction. Social media tends to bore me, and yet I get on it every single day. I dont stay on social media for hours at a time, but I always find myself getting on it at random times of the day just because, which is bad.
What I learned from this experience is that even though social media is just a normal thing now, it made me wonder how it was like to be in your 20s before social media. I like social media because I like seeing my friends accomplishments like graduating, starting a new job, buying a new house, having a baby, or getting married. The other stuff on social media does not really matter though. Obviously you can learn a lot of things on social media, but social media also has a lot of pointless stuff. My mom describes how when she was in her 20s, life was a lot more simple. A phone was made just for calling people, and you would’nt find things out about other people unless they called you or you simply saw them in person or if you sent an email. I was born in the late 90s, but I feel like it would have been nice to be in my 20s during that time. What I learned about my nature walk was that I need to start running more at the Battlefield again rather than at the gym. At the gym, I always get distracted with my phone. I have my music to listen to during my workout and even though music makes any workout a whole lot better, it was very relaxing to just walk in nature and listen to all my surroundings. It was also nice to just breathe in fresh air and feel the breeze when I finished my walk. The breeze felt as though it was taking off a lot of stress off my shoulders and I really did feel more relaxed compared to how I felt before my walk.