Zabrina Lewis
For those who have never been to Swallow Falls State Park in Garrett County, Maryland, I highly suggest you make the trip. During my third visit to the mesmerizingly dense state park, I tried to focus sensory feelings and everything I was noticing, as well as completely disconnecting from my phone (besides the one picture I took.) This time around, I found myself worrying less about how others perceived me. I wasn’t thinking of how good I looked or if my hair had become one big afro from the humidity, I was “distracted” by the natural scenery. The park’s natural waterfalls and cavern formations really do keep your brain from thinking about your everyday thoughts. I was no longer thinking about homework assignments, familiar pressures, or my work schedule. Beyond just what was going on in my head, I was definitely more aware of my surroundings in terms of the cycles of life and how everything is connected. I found that the plopping sounds of the trickling water and the earthy smells of the soil gave me a sense of clarity merely after an hour. When I go on my weekly hikes around Northern Virginia, it is hard to find trails where you can’t hear the sounds of cars on asphalt, so it was refreshing to be technologically and physically disconnected from those anthropogenic scenes. The last thing I took note of was the fact that bringing those that I cherish to these kinds of places allows for a different type of bonding. The simple act of walking amongst the trees brought forth positive characteristics in all who were with me that day. I now realize I want to be around people who make me forget to check my phone. This park never fails to confound me.
This weekend I also attended a Slipknot concert at Jiffy Lube Live in Gainesville, Virginia. I figured this event would be slightly different than the typical ‘sitting at home and watching T.V. kind’ of day. Everything is more intensified in regard to sounds, levels of technology, and interactions with people. Contradictory to what I experienced in my one hour of disconnection, I felt more self-conscious and self-aware during the concert, but much less aware of my surroundings. Although, I felt a part of the metal community, I became uncomfortable with myself as my phone and blasting music did not keep me from negative thoughts. This may not necessarily be a correlation with the amount of technology between the park and this concert, but is solely something I noticed within myself. Speaking again to the notion of a metal community, this concert provided a means of bringing all these like people together, yet everyone remained plug in to their phones. I witnessed several people straight up watching the concert through the video recording on their phones. My primary thought was ‘why are we spending money for a great event like this just to remain tied to our phones and not live in the moment?’ The pictures and videos we take during concerts most likely won’t last forever, however, our memories last with us until death. Using my physical senses, I could really only pay attention to the shouting crowd and ear-blasting music. In a slightly humorous way however, I constantly thought where I would see this many people drunk or on some kind of drug at the same time.
Overall, both activities were fun for me and allowed me to be more introspective and listen to the random thoughts in my mind. The hour I spent almost entirely disconnected, was well worth it and I learned that being engaged in nature with those I love can really amplify the experience for all. I have always thought, and will continue to believe in the fact that even one hour of disconnected living a day or even a week, can greatly benefit our connection to Earth, as well as, the types of mindsets we enter and information we receive from our surroundings. The hour I spent singing along and moving to music, was also well worth it. However, I did realize the faults in having such readily accessible technology, such as a smartphone, on us all the time. This experience further strengthened the importance of disconnection in my life, as it allowed me to see the effects of technology on others around me.