By: Anonymous
Preface: I am attempting to write in a unique format to show how our minds (or at least mine) works while in a mediated environment and while in a natural setting. In my reflections, I hope to recognize if there are different trains of thought in these two very different settings and how I enjoy each time.
It’s Monday night, and I’m about to start my 1 hour in a mediated environment. I’m on my phone for probably the 6th time today, about to go through each app.
10:00 pm. First Facebook. 9 new notifications, not too many. Okay there are some posts to the GMU Generalposting group I am in, some comments on a post I made a week ago, and there are some new items for sale in the marketplace. First the GMU group. People are looking to buy used textbooks, oh wait, I might have that one! Never mind, I already sold that last year. Scrolling and scrolling, there are posts wishing good luck this semester, some part-time job opportunities… nothing looks interesting. Going to the comments on my post. Aw some family members saw it and commented, they’re so sweet. Wait, only thirteen likes? Ugh, I wish more people liked my post. You know what, it’s fine, it doesn’t matter, ‘remember I only post to share with my family I don’t get to see, so they can see what I’m up to’. Let’s see what’s up for sale. Ooh my aunt posted something 2 hours ago, oh my gosh, it’s already sold! How does she do that? I wish I could do that; I should talk to her. Back to the homepage. Scrolling again. OH MY GOSH. I hate seeing my old friends post about how they are married or engaged and having kids already. I wish that were me. Why did I have to go to school? Why couldn’t I have just stayed back home and found someone nice to settle down with?! I guess thinking big means not getting what everyone in a small town has and wants. Being here is so frustrating sometimes, it takes so much work, and I barely have time for a social life. Part of me loves that I decided to chase my dreams, other times part of me hates that I didn’t just conform. Okay, I’m getting too depressed, next app.
10:17 pm. Let’s try Instagram. Yeah, I just posted a week ago, I wonder how many likes I have! Only seven? That’s how many likes I had the day I posted. I thought people liked my photography. I mean I know it’s not amazing, but I think I do rather good. Fine, homepage. Aww cute dogs! Boring, boring, keep scrolling. More dogs! Okay I’m bored, let’s go to reels. God I’m going to spend forever on here, it’s like TikTok. So many relationship videos, I love these. Wait, why can’t my relationship be like this? Why do I even follow these pages and people if it just makes me sad about the love I have. STOP. I can’t think like this. Okay, I’m done. Wow that was probably the shortest amount of time I’ve spent on Instagram.
10:22 pm. Snapchat. Okay, no new messages, that’s disappointing. I’ll just go to the Stories section. Oh! I have to watch the animal videos. Some pets are just so weird, and that one dog that looked like Bailey. I miss Bailey, she was my best friend, I can’t wait to get another dog just like her. Stop being sentimental, no tears. Beauty hacks next. Why do I even watch the beauty videos, I can never accomplish any of this anyways? I always try and it never works out. The cleaning videos, those are always super helpful. Okay, okay I think I’ve learned some things. And skip the relationship videos. Oh, an Olympics recap video, golden moments. I haven’t kept up, I should watch this, wait are the Olympics still happening? When did the U.S. win so many medals? And what happened to Simone Biles, why is everyone trashing her? When did I start saying “trashing”? God, I sound like my sister. Next app.
10:37 pm. Outlook. Gosh, I have to go through my school email. I went through this yesterday, how do I already have 41 new emails? Okay start at the top. Class reminders, move them to “Current Courses” folder I made. Keep going, sort, sort, sort. Well, no new news. Done.
10:45 pm. Switched to the computer. Let’s pull up CBS News. So much news! ‘Adapt or Die’, I wonder what that’s about, I’ll go back later. ‘Fire approaches Lake Tahoe’, well that seems important, wait, where is Lake Tahoe? Quick Google search: Lake Tahoe is between California and Nevada. I should watch this, mom used to live out there. It’s only a 2-minute read. Oh my god, this fire is burning more than 191,000 acres?! I can’t believe it. AND it is only 15% contained, I wonder what they are doing to control it, why isn’t it working? How did this fire even start? There’s another fire happening at the same time! 807,000 acres! All the fires we’ve had lately, there’s going to be nothing left! This is so sad, mom used to talk about how she hiked out in California all the time, I wonder if any of the places she went to will be left? Okay let’s go under the Science section. Hurricane Ida, COVID, California fires, this is different… ‘4-year-old girl discovers rare stingless bees in California’. Let’s read it. I saw so many bees outside today, I wish I didn’t get scared about them stinging me. Aw this story is so sweet, this kid re-discovered these bees that were never even named and thought to be extinct, and she won’t tell anyone where they are so they can stay undisturbed. And the county and state departments are happy to learn about the little girl and her discovery.
Okay, the clock just struck 11:00 pm. I guess I’m done. This will probably be the shortest amount of time I’ve spent on social media. I mean, I still have so many other apps I usually go through. Well, the next part is spending 1 hour in nature. I’m going to do that tomorrow morning.
Okay it’s 12:00 noon Tuesday. I am in a backyard in Clifton, Virginia, about to start my 1 hour in nature. I am all geared up in a raincoat, rain boots, and carrying an umbrella because it is currently raining and really dark and dreary outside. Surprisingly it’s still hot and humid though. I’ve walked further into nature and sat down under a tree so it’s not raining as hard on me, but I still have the umbrella propped over my head.
First, I work on identifying all of the sounds I hear. Rain: hitting the tops of the trees, splashing into the puddles on the ground, dropping into the nearby creek. Thunder and its’ lightening: only every so often, but when the thunder cracks or the lightning bolts, it’s like a gunshot being fired into the sky with its’ sound travelling straight through my chest, leaving me trembling. Birds: chirping quietly from all directions (even right above me), calls of little chicks wanting food from their moms, even lone birds singing into the open air waiting for a reply. Cicadas: their buzzing almost tunes with the pauses of the thunder. Frogs: just a few from a far, maybe from the little creek nearby, with deep and bellowing croaks as if to indicate the heaviness of the air suppressing us. Rustling: from rabbits or squirrels running through the wet fallen leaves to find their hiding spots from the storm.
I take in all of these sounds, and then I hear them all together, as if nature has its own rhythm of the world, its own beat to which it operates. As I settle into my hiding spot, I truly begin to be immersed in nature. I see some of those birds I heard, fly by. A frog jumps past. A rabbit goes into its’ hole. A squirrel climbs up its’ tree. And even some bees circle around me before moving on.
I begin to just relax and try not to think. Something about the sounds of nature is just so calming and peaceful. It allows you to relax your mind without even trying. It is as if my soul is connected to the nature around me and we become harmonious. My heartbeat syncs with nature’s rhythm, my breathing slows, and my eyes close. I no longer startle when the thunder cracks or the lightning bolts. I’m not worried any more about the animals or the bugs. I could spend forever out here.
In the brief amount of time I got to spend outside, I realized that somehow, I have never felt this way before. Any time I had tried to spend in nature previously, was interrupted by my dislike for bugs or the uncomfortableness of the ground. But this was different. I was different. Somehow, I just connected, and it was incredible. I definitely prefer to be outside more than on my devices.