Caitlin Miller
During my one hour of media, I continued with my normal behavior. During the hour I carried a bit more attention and awareness within me during the experience of introspective and analysis. I live my life in this mediated state. I wake up listening to music, the news, or a Youtube video while I shower and dress. At least an hour before I sleep, I listen to and/or watch the news. Recently the partner I live has been away for weeks on vacation. Since, I’ve stopped with cable news and npr to keep myself updated. I choose a nontraditional forms of media consumption, a podcast and Facebook. I listened to Sex with Emily on Spotify and used the Facebook on my phone, a fully immersive experience with modern tech.
The podcast I listened to was an episode of man interviewed, who wrote a book about fantasies. He interviewed 400,000 people to catagorize the most common fantasies. I learned men prefer a particular person to focus on rather than how women fantasy more about a setting and specific experience. I read social and environmental oriented articles. Iceland has a law for women for have equal pay by 2022 (Evening Standard) , nestle taking water from Florida Springs (EcoWatch), Maine bans styrofoam (Eco Watch) and so. I realize I spent a lot of my free time listening to lectures or podcasts and reading articles.
My time in nature made me feel a little anxious because I went my longest with out checking email, news, notifications, texts, replies, phone calls, or music with head phones. I brought my phone in my back pack to time the hour and waited to use my phone until the timer went off. I felt peaceful. I sat on the ground in Rock Creek Park. I took my socks and shoes off, leaving my bare feet on the ground. I stare at the trees, focused on breathing slower, and let go of the urge to check my phone. I recognized how much self-induced pressure I put on myself to get things done while simultaneously distracting myself into something with tech. I’ve know it’s health and necessary for each of us to give ourselves moments just to able to be fully present, free of to do list, self-critic, nose, and being surrounded by plants. The mind needs this to have a healthy level of well-being. After what it felt like 15 minutes, I wake by the creek for the rest of the hour.
The most significant thing I took away from this analysis is how much media I consume all day long. When I wake up, drive, walk, and before I sleep, I have some form of a screen or speakers at use. I never allow myself to have total silence. My life is so immersed in consumed technology. I haven’t a day without it in at least a decade. It’s a somewhat gray and mildly dark feeling because I’m not sure it’s a positive or negative thing. I can imagine a life without and I don’t know which is better in terms of mental health and brain cognitions and function. The assignment has left me wondering what is too much to, should there be a limit, and would I be more productive with less of it?