Solitary Walk
Experience #1: Walking through the Park
On Friday September 8th, 2017 I went for a walk in the park around 1:00pm. As I walked through the park and ate my lunch, I noticed the Lincoln Park High School students running through the park. I assumed that they were in their gym class, but I noticed a few students just wandering through the park. The air felt colder than it had during the week and soon it was drizzling. Along the path I saw the basketball court, there were many people on it and there was lots of movement. I could hear the players conversing about who called the ball and general strategy midgame. They did not seem to mind that it was raining. As I continued my walk to saw leaves starting to fall on the ground, and I stepped on them to hear the satisfying crunch sound. As the rain started to fall harder and faster, I made my way around at a quicker pace, feeling silly for having forgotten my umbrella when I had checked the weather just a few hours earlier. As I finished my walk in the park, I found safety from the rain at a nearby dairy queen, where I treated myself to a smoothie.
Experience #2: Walking through Downtown
On Friday September 8th, 2017 around 4:00pm I was walking through downtown by the Macy’s and Block 37. My downtown walk was much more lively than my Lincoln Park walk. I heard music being played in the streets for money. I heard heavy traffic, it was much louder than Lincoln Park. As I headed towards the Macy’s I saw an unusual amount of men and women who were dressed very professionally. I saw a lot more suits and briefcases than I usually do on my walks downtown and I assumed there was a big meeting and most of these people were from out of town or at least not working in downtown. As I headed up the street I smelled perfume and ladies were outside the building offering free samples. Kiosks for jewelry were set up on the sidewalk with bracelets with many vibrant colors, mostly a teal or aqua blue. Further down that kiosk was another who specialized in handbags, but none of them sparked my interest.
Object #1: sets of watches
September 8th 2017, around 4pm, Block 37
As I walked through block 37, I passed many kiosks and stores. One of the kiosks in block 37 had sets of beautiful watches. Some of the watches were gold, some were silver, and they shined and reflected the heavily lit floor. Along with these watches were dakota brand watch bands. These came in many different forms. Some of the bands were metal gold or silver and has chain links as the band. They seemed to match well with the watches they were next to. Other bands had different textures, some felt like alligator skin, some were matte and just a solid band, other were braided and you could feel the knots were the bands arm could tie in to. A lot of the bands were of neutral colors, but one set had more vibrant blues, reds and pinks.
Object #2: Yard Sale sign
September 8th, 2017 around 4:30pm. Webster and Orchard. As I left the park due to the rain, I noticed multiple yard sale signs with a map on them so you could easily find the location. The paper itself was wrinkly due to the rain and what was once white paper was now a grayish hue. The yard sale sign itself was simple, a pickit sign read “yardsale”, above it was the address, and below directions. As I took the sign off of the pole, I was easy to untape on one side and hard on the other , I assumed that was due to the rain. I think it was an overall cute sign and it shows that there is a sense of community. Not all neighborhoods have the privilege to be open to their neighbors.
Difference between Intention and Attention:
Intention is when you have a means to doing an activity where as attention is being aware of what is happening around you. Intention can be a way to plan what you will do, while attention is in that moment doing either what you planned, or what you didn’t plan. When you don’t plan, there lies an area of spontaneity; where you may have to pay even more attention to your surrounding because you become unfamiliar.
