By Anonymous
As I begin my one hour of media consumption, I started by hopping onto Facebook as there’s something always being talked about on some social media platform. While I scroll on the platform, I come across several mindless yet interesting videos. The first I watched was a 3 minute long DIY craft video. The creator did a range of things such as, making slime in his car, which he then used to clean up the crumbs in his car. Similarly, I came across another DIY video, but this time there was a man making the most ridiculous faces and reactions as he was attempting to disprove any of the DIY life hacks made by a different channel. Another video I came across was about a photographer on TikTok, who utilizes his camera to take videos of food and other objects at a microscopic level. In the video I was able to see the microscopic level of a cup of coffee, a kiwi, a leaf, and a piece of wood. After the video, I continued to scroll on Facebook, I came across an ad about a local fundraiser at a chipotle for a high school swimming team, another about a new roller coaster opening this summer at Busch Gardens, and several movie trailers popped up as well. I ended up getting bored of Facebook, so I moved along to google. I found and read an article about the revitalization of the plaza near Lake Anne at Reston, sadly it seems like the $37 million dollar plan is having trouble actually coming to life. Another article I read was about the owners of Buschs Gardens attempting to buy and take Kings Dominion, which I find interesting because I love going to both of these amusement parks. I then came across an article from the Loudoun County Animal Services about one of their newest cats now open for adoption. According to a blog, there’s this amazing stairway on a hiking trail in Virginia where you can see a waterfall, Crabtree falls, from all sorts of different angles. As I got bored again, I moved over to TikTok. I finished my one hour watching the most ridiculous video, which I feel is not even worth mentioning.
Now moving forward, I began my one hour of “nature consumption.” I started by walking over to my local park, Briar Patch. Since I was completely unplugged from technology, the 10 minute walk was almost in complete silence. For the most part all I could hear was the nearby construction, cars driving by, and birds chirping all over the place. As I made my way to the park, I walked over to a nearby bridge built over a stream inside the park. The small pond formed at the beginning of the stream was completely frozen over. In the ice, I could visibly garbage all over the place, ranging from gatorade bottles to amazon packaging. I sat down by a nearby bench, sat in silence and simply observed the small pond. I tried my best to see any form of life in the pond but the only thing living were the cattails growing and sprouting out of the frozen water. I then walked further down and made my way to a part of the stream that sounded alive and healthy. I could hear and see the water flowing, which I found completely relaxing. Right next to the stream, I saw several birds flying around and foraging on the ground, camouflaging with the trees and leaves on the ground. Although I would’ve loved to stay longer, that’s how I concluded my one hour of nature consumption.
My experience with this assignment emphasized the insignificance of what is shared online. After scrolling online for an hour, I found it almost difficult trying to remember what I watched and read. I only really processed what felt like about twenty percent of the information I found on Facebook, Google, and TikTok. The only information I truly processed was the information I related to, enjoyed, or felt passionate about. Everything else was forgotten. I usually do not go on social media that often because of work and school. But on top of that I find social media to be tiring and boring most of the time. I find nature to be relaxing and calming. When I went on my stroll, that’s exactly what I felt. The experience and the information I found throughout my stroll felt more real and permanent. I was there experiencing it first hand rather than reading and watching someone else talk about it. I feel that society needs to take a step back from technology and learn to balance learning from nature and media. Through this balance, I believe that it would improve the mental and physical health of all individuals.