Two Hours

Kennedy Ream

After my morning classes on Monday, I decided to sit outside for lunch. I ended up on a bench outside the Johnson Center eating my ramen noodles. On a regular basis, I usually use this time to go on my phone to catch up on social media; however, I decided to follow the rules of this assignment. Campus was weirdly quiet at this time; I assumed people were in their 12 to 1:15 lectures. After I finish my ramen, a bee decided to explore my Tupperware (which had the leftover soy sauce-flavored broth). On instinct, I attempted to take the Tupperware from the exploratory bee, and the bee was not very pleased. He encircled me several times, giving me the thought that he was angry with me for taking away his newly possessed broth. I set it back down, curious as to what he’d do next. He slowly calmed back down, trusting that even though I was sitting next to him, I wouldn’t make another move at the bowl. I studied his behavior, why exactly he wanted the broth, how he acted when he was standing in the broth. This observant period took up most of my hour outside- and I felt weirdly in tune with nature. Instead of trying to separate myself from the bee, we coexisted, just for a moment.

Coming home from a short day of classes on Tuesday, I decided to get my friend hooked on a Netflix show called Stranger Things. We began to watch the pilot: action-packed, suspenseful, and humorous all in one. Being one of my favorite shows I have watched prior, I did not feel the need to keep my eyes peeled to the screen. Right around when one of the characters (Will) goes missing, I decide to go on my phone to catch up on social media. I’m texting multiple friends, scrolling on Instagram, watching stories on Snapchat, and looking at Facebook posts. I tune back into the show-we’re at the part where Eleven (another character) escapes the laboratory. This routine repeats several cycles until the show ends. There’s a pause between the first episode ending and the second episode loading. My friend and I share an odd moment of silence, and my brain takes this opportunity to reflect: Did an hour really just go by?

The dynamic of these two experiences shows the contrast of simply existing in modern day. There’s so much information happening in the second experience, my brain cannot process the rate of information I am getting. In the first experience, it’s quite the contrary. Being in nature forces my body and brain to slow down and to not forget the fundamentals of life. I’m hoping recording the difference in these two experiences will influence me to be outside more during my typical work weeks (when inside life keeps my brain going too fast for too long).

Samantha Milani

For my blog post this week, I spent one hour of my time in a mediated environment while being on social media and technology. I spent this hour in my room while music playing on my television, having a YouTube video playing on my computer and I worked on my schedule, which was on my iPad. I did this on a Monday, August 29^th, 2022 at 12pm. This experience made me really think about how overstimulating technology can make me feel. It can be fun to explore social media but I realized there are so many photos, videos, opinions, facts being thrown at me all at once. This made me think about what these platforms can do to humans and how it can change our feelings so quickly just from an image! I tend to spend hours on my phone each day but doing so for a blog post, changed my perspective on how we should be using our time with social media and technology. This experience was eye opening to me and showed me I spend way too much time on technology and I mostly do this for no good reason other than to get away from the real world.

I spent another hour of my time in a natural setting on George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus that is isolated from other parts of campus. This area had very few students, only 2 and was very quiet compared to other parts on campus. I used no social media and technology at this time and spent this hour fully present in nature. I did this on a Tuesday, August 30^th, 2022 at 10:30am. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining but the wind cooled everything off, it felt as though Fall was just around the corner. This experience was very calming to me and I was able to observe many things about my surroundings.

This outdoor area had 10 trees; 3 of them being very short and small, while the others were tall, extremely green and thick, and it was clear that they had been there much longer than the other smaller trees. There were 7 shrubs in my sight of view and lots of green grass. Although there was a concrete walkway and green tables and chairs to sit on, the area felt very different than most parts of campus. Because this area was away from the busy buildings that Mason has, it was essentially silent even considering there being 2 other students. After 30 minutes, students came and went, most of them going to class and I found myself alone in this area for the remainder of my time. I recorded 5 squirrels and over a dozen different birds, which was the only sound happening through this experience, other than the shuffling of students rushing to class.

Laurie Swede

I have lived on the same 10 acres for my entire life; in the same red brick house with the same bushy garden out front and the same rusty dog pen spanning the back right corner of the front five acres of land. I watched the construction of our multi-fenced duck pen and the fall of our childhood playground as the years seeped through the roots of the estate. Change happens daily, every minute, and every second outside the natural world as time cleaves apart and reforms the landscape of memories. As rust continues to gather on the old dog run gate and the graveyard of childhood memories forcibly expands its border, I sit.

I sit on a dusty rocking chair on my front porch as the evening sun drips into honey gold and watch the cars rumble past on the road. With my hour-timer set, I stare at the passing cars and listen to the different acceleration patterns while boredom creeps into my chest. Sitting in the rocking chairs, I see a line of bushes in front of me claiming to be a garden; a rough, rotted stump of a tree sits in the lawn with new sprouts coming from its sappy entrails; a line of bushes and trees; and then the road. The urge to look at my cell phone pulls at me. I think about the misty sunrises that crest over the horse barn and field across the street and sit in the shadow of my house as the sunsets and birds flit around, chirping. Finding this not adequately entertaining enough, I pry my limbs from the dusty rocking chair and jump off of the brick-lined porch onto a bush-lined sidewalk and out onto the tree-lined driveway. I remember when my sisters and I would leave for school at 7:30 A.M. with sand in our eyes and see the sun rising perfectly between the tunnel of trees our driveway created, but now the sun rises off to the left and gets caught in the branches of these trees, having fallen prey to the movement of time. I walk across the driveway, between the new shed and the duck pen, and make my way towards the creek line. I stare at the patches of warm sunlight on the grass and breathe in the cool, fresh air. Looking towards the creek line, I see the trees bordering the tractor crossing form a portal of lush green leaves and shining sun rays. As I approach the entrance, the trees loom, and sag, and the underbrush sways in the breeze while I continue to walk along the path. I stand there in the middle of the path and stare at the dry creek bed that used to run often during the spring and see fallen trees and underbrush crowding the bed on both sides. The other week, after walking back from doing yoga, I saw something out of the corner of my eye while making my way across the crossover: two large dogs were standing there staring at me. I remember the feeling of terror like a bolt of lightning down my back when I realized. Tearing my eyes away from the empty stream bed, I look to the world this portal has opened up before me, and it is one of rolling hills and shallow forests. Sprawling before me is a grassy field bordered on all but one side by trees. I watch as the sun drips below the trees, turning burnt orange and carmelizing the entire scene in front of me. The broad clouds are painted orange and pink at the sun’s final valiant attempt at shining, and I watch as a herd of deer slip through the creek line and into this very field. There are two spotted babies, and three does that emerge from the brush with their faces pointed towards my sitting form, ears and bodies alert. After a few heartbeats they look away, finding no threat in me, and continue moseying through the field. I feel the lush grass under my hands as I stare at the herd of deer making their way up through the field and breathe in the dewy, golden-dusted air. I feel a part of something larger despite the mosquitos encouraging me to leave and watch as the ghost of the sun paints dark pink and orange in its absence. When I am at last sitting in the grey light of twilight, I decide to get up and walk back towards my house.

I get inside and immediately open my phone, checking my snapchat and tiktok for anything new. My eyes burn into the too bright screen as I walk with my eyes on my screen to my computer in the next room. The repeating video playing on my phone changes as my constant mindless scrolling draws me in. I sit down in my office chair at my desk where my computer is and scroll through videos and send some to my friends. I sit there and stare as my For You page shows me peculiar videos; some about cats and cooking and others about the collapse of civilization. A feeling of dread comes over me so I turn my phone off and open my computer. The screen lights up and I log in using face recognition to see all of the tabs I had open for school. I am reminded of all the work I still have to do and am slightly more stressed. I think about what I should do… Should I watch TV or play Wizards101? I used to play Wizards101 when I was a younger and I somehow remembered my old log in and am playing with my original wizard. I bought the member ship earlier this year for the wizard game and have been sucked in ever since. I don’t know if I feel like putting that much effort into anything right now though so I guess I’ll watch TV. I click on Netflix and start playing H2o in Spanish. I used to watch this show a lot when I was younger and I am currently listening to it in Spanish. I have been taking Spanish since freshman year and watching shows in Spanish has definitely helped me so far. I sit there and watch as the slightly grainy early 2000s show flips on and I skip the catchy intro. I watch an episode which is only 20 minutes and click the next one. I open my phone halfway through this episode to watch more tik toks but it is hard to listen to more than one thing so i turn off my phone and set it back down. I am attempting to crochet a sweater right now so I pull out my crochet hook and yarn and continue making squares while the show continues to play.

This experience really shows the contrast of the outside vs the inside world and the depth of both. Outside I felt calm and my thoughts were filled of notalgia and beauty where when i went inside I was getting overwhelmed by my constant scrolling on my phone and the searing lights of the electronics. When I was inside I definitely felt more stressed than when I was outside watching the sunset. It was relaxing and inspiring to be outside walking around and seeing nature in full where when I was inside I was only focus on watching a program.

Adrianna Guerrero

For my hour in a naturalist environment, the following is what I observed while in a naturalistic environment. Behind my house there is a small patch of woods, with a running path and an ultimate frisbee course. Walking through the path I check to see if the tent with the American flag is still near the little stream. I look and see no sign of it, maybe it was a failed “treehouse” of sorts by the kids in the neighborhood, or someone looking for a place to stay for a while. The neighborhood mystery. I walk for a little more looking for the rock near the stream I sit at sometimes. Its around evening time and the sunlight is pocking through the leaves creating beams of light. I can hear the faint noise of the chains of ultimate frisbee hoop rattle in the distance. Sticks crack and brake under my feet. I finally make it to the rock and sit down making sure I don’t step in the water.  I am now surrounded by the noise of the water flowing around me. I think about where the water is flowing to. Is it clean? Why aren’t there any little fish in it like the stream around my Junior High in Illinois. I remember that I live near the Incinerator located in Lorton and wonder if they use the stream. There are less flies this time around. The leaves look like they are turning, maybe we will have an early autumn.

For my hour of media consumption, I was mainly on Instagram and surfed Netflix and watched a few minutes of a series I have been watching. I start with Instagram. I look through Instagram stories, I flip quick through the stories waiting for stories of friends to see what they are up to. I see Lexi’s story, her and her roommate are pictured, and the captions speaks of a fire. Her apartment building had a fire. Is she alright? Are her roommates alright? I text her to make sure. Everything is okay. I’m relieved. I go make to Instagram. Ads for clothes pop up speaking of Labor Day deals. So many ads, I wish there were less ads. I get bored and start searching through Netflix. I look through my list to see if there is anything I want to watch. Everything on my list has changed since seeing my cousins. They recommended me many Anime series to watch. I haven’t watched them. My recommendations are of Korean series because of the one show I started watching and movies like Big Fish, When Harry Met Sally, Happy Old Year. I think about the algorithm that recommends me shows. So many TV shows and movies. I see that they have added a “Surprise me” tab. Maybe then I’ll actually start watching something. I started watching the series I have been watching, Reply 1988. I hum the theme song, pictures of Korea in 1980 flash the screen. All the characters are home from work and visiting family. One family lives in a half basement apartment and I am reminded of the floods in Seoul that caused concern over safety of them. Has policy changed about regulating them? What happens to those families?

Observing in these different environments allowed me to consider how attentive I am to what I am taking in, what questions I ask, and where my attention is focused when I am in these environments. While consuming media, I was only taking information, the media that was presented to me was fleeting in ways. I swiped and it was gone. This case was special because of concerns of my friends post and questions that I had but without that post I was just swiping not asking many questions. Mindlessly swiping looking for nothing but still wanting to swipe a see something. The same goes for my experiencing of surfing through Netflix I was just clicking though until I saw something that looked interesting only to watch something familiar. Through media for the most parting the memory of what I was taking in was fleeting especially on social media. With Netflix it was a little different, in ways mindlessly searching but I showed more attention to what I was taking in when it came to the show I was watching. While outside things were more still, I listened to the sounds around me and watched for things that I had seen before. My thoughts were more meandering, scanning my surrounding not waiting for the next thing to happen.  In the age of technology and it becoming more apart of our lives, it makes me wondering if the world that we are creating online is making use less attentive to the world around us. Also, with many sources of information how do we make sense of it all and how do we manage it?

Media Consumption:

I sit at my desk and boot up my computer, frustrated with the overall day and looking for an excuse to not think about things. There’s a red spiral icon at the top left of my desktop- I click it and wait as the archaic graphics of ‘Wizards 101’ manifest on my screen. This was a game I played when I was a kid, where you essentially roleplay as a wizard student and complete a series of quests. There’s a soft glow of comfortable nostalgia that clouds my brain. As I move around the world, I’m dueling sentient skeletons and fellow players (who I’m 90% sure are all under the age of twelve). I walk into a red sparkle that gives me extra health. I acquire a magical pet and amble along the cobblestone roads. I feel like I’m in my element with this game. I have chronic depression, and I read once that many people experiencing depression tend to turn to familiar things for comfort. I think about this as I play. By the time I log out, it’s time to make dinner. Onto the next task…

Naturalistic Environment:

It’s time to walk the dog. My partner and I head out the door and down the stairs. We do the same walk every night at around 8:30. The sky is darker than it has been all summer at this time. There’s but a wisp of sunset lingering on the horizon, soon extinguished by the blanket of night. I turn the flashlight on its highest setting, partially to look out for other dogs and mostly so I can find frogs (even though this makes me a bit of a hindrance to the dog-walking process). During the summer, there are TONS of frogs out at night. We live next to a forest with several trails, so every year a new frog army is built for me to appreciate. My boyfriend and dog wait patiently for me to usher the frogs off the sidewalk, so they don’t get stepped on. Various bug sounds ring in my ears. We hear foxes screeching and rustling around underneath the canopy of leaves and bushes. Suddenly, our dog, “Buddha” starts doing what we like to call the “naughty prance.” When he has something he’s not supposed to or smells an interesting animal, he holds his head high and prances like a show pony. He’s well-trained, but the naughty prance is always a reason to keep our eyes sharp. I chuckle, wondering how Buddha can be so ridiculous and smart at the same time. Luckily, we make it home without a hitch.

Summary:

I really enjoyed this assignment. I always think that being assigned to “do something” is really effective in helping people learn, because you end up learning quite a bit about yourself along the way. I pretty much do a lot of the same things every day, but it was interesting to do all of it while being mindful of the assignment. I found myself wondering what my intentions were with every action and why I was doing it. It felt like I was a scientist observing and collecting data on myself. Regardless of what I do, whether it be consuming media or otherwise, I think I tend to live in the moment. I concentrate on what’s in front of me and try not to worry about the rest.

By Shemaiah Kentish

   In my hour of mediated information, I spent my time between Daily mail on Snapchat and on Instagram. On Daily mail the information I received was mainly highlights from the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). The articles I looked at focused on the fashion fails and the best dressed of the VMAs with the authors passing their judgements on who they believed were the worst and best dressed and why. In another story there was a animal rights protest in New York City against Nike, Dior, and Louis Vuitton over their use of animal products in their stores, the story focused on a man that disrupted the protest by eating a meat kebab in front of their protest which ended with him getting yelled at and insulted. The last story I read on Daily mail was the list of the top celebrity air polluters, the information I received from this article is that Taylor Swift was named the top celebrity air polluter of the year, with Floyd Mayweather coming in second place She received this title because out of the first 200 days of this year she used her private jet 170 of those days and emitted about 8,293.54 metric tons of CO2. On my Instagram half of my hour of mediated information I spent time on the Instagram page @EnvironmentalToxinsNerd she shares information about toxins in out environment. On this day I read her post about how exposure to BPA, phthalates, arsenic, and endocrine disrupting chemicals have been linked to metabolic disorders such as, diabetes and obesity. I also learned that just because a label says BPA free does not mean that it is a safe container to use, this is because the companies often use substitutes like, BPS or BPFs which have been found to not be much better than BPAs.

            In my hour in a natural environment, I sat outside of Caboose Commons before the big lunch crowd, and I watched the birds that frequent this area. I watched a group of about 15-20 little sparrows fly around looking for food and walking on tables. I saw a couple perch on the dog bowls outside and drink water from them. There were a few in a group searching for food in the nearby grass for about 30 minutes. A few of the other birds perched on the barstool and watching the other birds and resting. A little after sitting outside a European Starling flew in and joined in the search for food, this bird kept its distance from the other smaller birds. It was a very peaceful time, and I was able to reflect on my first week on school. I often disconnect like this, but it is worth noting that the feeling of being disconnected from media and a constant input of information is like finally being able to take a deep breath and be solely present in the moment.

            I learned from this experience that in my mediated time I had a lot more control over what information I consumed. I was able to pick and choose what stories I read and what I viewed on Instagram. When compared to my time in the natural environment I had little to no control over what was done in the natural environment. I could stop or change what the birds in my area were going to do. I had no control over the wind making the trees sway nor the heat from the sun. The natural processes were unaffected by my presence I was simply an observer of nature.

Dahye Han

Thanks to the tremendous development of technology, the world has been more connected via social network services such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc. As much as the world is connected, the quantity of information social network services provide people is huge. For an hour, my time in the mediated environment was taken up with entertainment and some new information I’m interested in. The first thing I did was to communicate with my friends on Instagram. Wherever I am and wherever they are, we could communicate right away regardless of our location. I could see some beautiful scenery that my friends saw through the pictures they post on Instagram. I looked at their pictures and left comments, and they replied again. And we communicated with each other through direct messages. After communicating with my friends, I turned on the YouTube app for the rest of the hour. The YouTube shorts provided a lot of information in a short time which is about 30 seconds to a minute. For example, the short videos include how to make yogurt, cute puppy videos, best combinations of food, travel videos in Africa, what happened in another country, and how to fix broken things. I could acquire various information in a short time, but I could only remember some of the information because I got various information in a short time, and even some of the information I remember was not accurate. Finally, I looked up a science video and watched a video titled, “What if people threw trash into a volcano?”. Even if I didn’t go to the library to find information, I could easily get answers to my questions. Additionally, even if I don’t travel to other countries, I could enjoy the beautiful scenery of other countries through the video posted on YouTube. The scenery I saw in the video was really beautiful.

Contrary to what I saw through my phone screen, it’s time to give my eyes a break. I took a walk around the house, away from the media world for a while. Usually, when I walk on the street, I wear Air Pods and listen to music, but this time, I was out of all the media. The first 10 minutes were really boring. Also, even though I had a lot of work to do, I was worried about taking a walk. However, as I endured the boring time and focused on the present time when taking a walk, I began to see and admire the surrounding scenery. Pretty flowers and trees, dogs and people taking walks, and pretty houses were combined to create a picturesque landscape. Additionally, I had a really interesting time comparing the scenery around campus with South Korea where I had lived. While walking while appreciating the surrounding scenery, I sat on the bench for a while and focused on the sound of nature. The sound of the wind, the sound of cars passing by, and the sound of birds chirping helped the landscape look more beautiful. And on the way home, I went home with a more relaxed mind, unlike the impatient mind I had when I started taking a walk.

Through this experience, I could feel the difference between the beautiful scenery I see through my phone and the scenery I see myself. The beautiful scenery I saw through my phone was definitely a really beautiful thing. I could enjoy the beautiful scenery without going there. However, there is a limit to watching through a phone. To appreciate the landscape in a confined space in one position was simply limited to “appreciation”. On the other hand, the surrounding scenery I saw myself was not only beautiful like the beautiful scenery I saw through my phone, but also brought me a break. It was an experience to realize again that there is such a beautiful scenery near me.

However, I think the convenience of technological advancement is really great. Because I can get the information I want between 1 minute and 15 minutes without going to the library. In addition, I can contact and communicate with my family and friends whenever I want, regardless of where I am in other countries or regions. As mentioned above, it is also a great advantage that I can appreciate the beautiful scenery of other countries even if I don’t go there. Therefore, I realized that the balance between life through the development of technology and life I can enjoy nature is important. Because if I’m too biased on one side, I might miss something without realizing it.

Tristan Silva-Montoya

There’s screaming coming out of my phone as the commentators freak out about a crazy knockout. There is nothing like the excitement of that comes from a wild knockout and though I discovered it just before the start of covid, UFC has quickly become my favorite sport. I say/think this as I simultaneously play madden on my Xbox. The sound of my lizards’ water filter is a constant white noise that is drowned out most of the time; however, I’ve noticed that occasionally (especially when zoned out) the filter noise can surprisingly drown much louder things out. I get bored of madden and switch over to playing Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Just like that I’m sailing up the Thames River getting ready to raid England. Threep! My phone’s buzzing. It’s my lovely girlfriend and I pause my raid to respond. While responding to a text a few minutes later, I missed a crazy finish from the last fight! Thankfully, there were plenty of replays! As the fights finish up so too does my hour of media.

I start walking over to the park by my house, Claude Moore Park. I’m relatively new to the area and I don’t know this park too well yet, so I decide to make today about exploration. As I get through the neighborhoods, I finally arrive at the trail entrance to the park. I notice that the trees closest to the street have a lot lichens. Crossing through the trail entrance takes me back to my childhood; I grew up right next to a park and went through a very similar trail entrance to get there almost every day to hangout/explore after school with my brother and friends. The trail is mostly quiet, but I hear the occasional bird and rustle of a squirrel. I end up near the baseball fields. After walking through all that, I find this big farmhouse looking building that turns out to be the Heritage Farm Museum. It has lots of flowers and vegetable gardens all around and with those are the insects that follow suit. To the right of the building is some pastures and then a pond. The pond has a dock on the other side of it for fishing. I notice the ripples of a fish right as I look toward the dock. I go down a trail next to the pond. This trail becomes more mud than gravel and my feet sink into the ground as I walk. To the left of the trail is an actual lake not just a pond. There’s an island with a big tree and some other vegetation. All along the islands coast are bugs. It was a little far to tell exactly what they were, but it looked like a few dragon flies. This park reminds me a lot of home because the park I grew up near also had two bodies of water and a lot of hiking/biking trails.

              My two experiences were much different. My media full hour was more reactionary. I had both TV as well as a video game going on at the same time and therefore had a lot of stimulation to react to.  The TV I was watching isn’t necessarily something you would just be braindead during because that sport is so unpredictable you have to be watching and analyzing everything. A video game is obviously pretty stimulating especially in terms of reactions. My nature-filled hour was much more appreciative of my surroundings. I was just taking things in during my walk and I found that the park, I suppose unsurprisingly, reminded me of home and the things I did in the park by my childhood house.

Hour outdoors: For my hour outdoors, I decided to write about it while I waited for my friend’s class to end.  I was on campus and decided to walk around and enjoy the nighttime scenery.  I was able to hear bugs chirping at night, the sounds of students talking and walking around campus and the sounds of other students in their loud cars which disturbed the relaxing environment I was trying to put myself into.  Not being on media for this hour made me realize how long an hour can really feel when you don’t have something at your fingertips that can distract your mind to make the time go by faster.  I liked how that hour felt longer than it really was because to me it felt like I could artificially extend the time I was outdoors by not wasting any of the time reading through things online who’s only purpose is to get as much engagement time as possible. 

Hour online:  The time I spent mediated online was way longer than one hour.  I spent six hours playing the day one Kings Fall raid last Friday 8/26.  During it we were all very energetic because we have been waiting for this moment for years since the first release of Kings Fall in the first game.  We spent a lot of time yelling and arguing at each other and looking back at it now probably was not the best idea for a cooperative activity.  When we would beat an encounter, we would all start yelling and cheering because of the large amount of time we spent at each encounter.  Compared to our 19-hour session in February for that raid release this 6-hour session felt like nothing but after telling people about it who don’t play games like that I realized that maybe this could be a waste of time, but we spent those 6 hours talking and having fun so I have come to the conclusion that if it stays a twice a year thing making time for it in my schedule isn’t such a bad thing.  We all live across the continent, so this is our main way of hanging out and talking to each other.  

Learned:  One of the main things I got from this experience was the appreciation I got for just spending an hour without any online distractions.   Being able to just sit outdoors and walk around taking in what is around me for only an hour but having it feel like 2-3 hours was almost surreal to me.  I feel a personal biased to being online since when I was growing up we would always be moving from place to place and playing games online with friends really helped me keep in contact with friends from different places and not have to feel totally alone when going to a new place because I knew that once I got online I would still have people to talk to and share memories with.