By: Jared Holloway
My hour of media was filled with social media, text messages, and Youtube. Like many people my age, I started by scrolling through different social media platforms and look at what my friends and family were posting. I saw posts on Instagram about people’s first week of classes and their end-of-summer recap posts. I then went on Facebook only to see friends and family posting about politics and especially about the removal of Americans from Afghanistan. After seeing a few of those posts I remembered the old days of Facebook where it was only friends and family posting about their life updates and I realized how different the social media platform is today. At the same time I was on social media, I was also sending and receiving text messages from my family and roommates about various things that happen in our daily lives. I then decided to watch some Youtube for about 10 minutes but that turned into 30 or 40 minutes because interesting videos kept sucking me in. In this hour I was also doing chores such as cleaning and making diner but I would always take breaks from that to look at my phone to consume more media.
In my hour of nature, I decided to go for a bike ride on a trail near my place in Clifton. I have ridden this trail several times because it is away from main roads and runs along some small creeks and large hills. I started off at a slow pace and I quickly noticed a large number of birds and squirrels all moving around as I passed them. They did not seem to be too bothered by my presence and was not bothered by theirs. After around 10 minutes I stopped at a small creek and sat on a log to just enjoy my surroundings. I enjoyed the slight breeze as it rustled through the leaves in the trees. I felt the warm rays of the sun hit my skin as the shade moved around in the wind. But all was ruined by the sound of distant car honks and engine noise which seems to be growing more and more into nature as more roads and houses are built. I then decided to keep biking and finish the trail as I had been out for almost an hour now. Throughout my time on the trail, I only ran into a few people and there was always a short “Hello’ or “Morning” said but nothing beyond that. I finished the trail slightly sweaty but content with myself for purging myself from digital media, even if it was just for an hour or so.
This experience has confirmed my already existing belief that our heavily mediated world has caused us to be obsessed and lack the ability to sit and genuinely relax. I have always felt this way from my experiences backpacking on the Appalachian Trail and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the Rocky Mountains where there is rarely phone service so it is just you, nature, and nothing else. My short hour experience started like any first day of backpacking where you have the urge to check your phone and send some text messages but after a while, those urges fade and that is when you can truly relax for once. In my hour of media, I felt so obligated to check social media and respond to all of my texts so I could be as involved as I possibly could. But that obligation is so draining mentally and emotionally, It feels like it became part of my personality and last time I checked obligated media consumer was not exactly a personality trait. The feeling of letting go of that obligation in nature frees my mind and whenever I am going through tough times or have to make a big decision, I always find the time to put my phone down and go in nature to get a clearer mind, which has never failed me to this day.