Walking Chicago-Journal #3

While I don’t have a practice or routine of following people, this walk will surely be different from most. We’ve been assigned to journal our walk with someone else. This person would be at random and our presence would have to cease. Simply put, I would have to walk more along someone’s route, experience their journey, and dismiss myself from their destination. I walk outside and ponder looking around for my ‘subject’. I don’t want to be too thoughtful of whom I choose as their appearance wouldn’t tell much more than the possible adventure they may take me on. Soon enough I spotted someone younger looking around my age. I won’t be too descriptive but they had a beanie cap on as well as earbuds plugged in. It almost was as if they were discreetly moving along to the rhythm of whatever they were listening to. They seem mobile and roughly familiar with the area so I figured this is whom I would follow.

We begin our journey just a block or two up from my house. It seems that we are making a stop at a nearby park. I follow along discreetly, observing the rhythm of their steps. My subject comes to a halt and I gain cover along a shaded area of a tree. Still remaining unnoticed, they lay in the grassy field, staring up at the sky. Earbuds still plugged in, you can notice a slight head nod to what they have playing. I took the moment to observe both my subject and my surroundings. It was a beautiful day, around 84 degrees hot, with a breeze just strong enough to keep you cool, and barely a cloud in the sky to cover the sun. I watched back over at my subject who had not moved once. I think It had been about five or ten minutes since we got here. They were enjoying themselves though, so with that, I took the time to do the same.

All in one ‘cut’ my subject suddenly rose from the grassy field and began towards the exit. It caught me by surprise if I’m being honest, time became rather relative for a moment. I quickly gathered my things and not too far behind tailed along. As we exited the park we made a turn or two and then just walked down this one neighborhood street. I had to be cautious, there isn’t really anywhere to hide, and if they noticed me at the park and found me here with them then that surely wouldn’t end well. I slowed my steps and tried to focus on everything but my subject. It still amazes me sometimes the idea of foliage growing within concrete. It feels refreshing like a reminder that we are still actively living and breathing through this thing called “life” rather than trailing it. For a moment then I gazed upon my subject, I thought about their life, the one they are actively living and breathing through, the one that I am now anonymously a part of. I gained a certain appreciation for the moment and I became grateful that I could share this time in our universe with them.

Soon enough I was led to a street corner with a couple of shops and restaurants around it. The street was lively. People were out and about shopping or eating, or simply just enjoying the moment to themselves or with others. Some dressed up others in more casual wear, everybody had a route which they followed. That was all irrelevant though, I had one subject and one subject only, so we continued. I was much more relieved to have the change in environment, gaining cover with the different plants, buildings, and people would be much easier. Hopeful that they wouldn’t stop anywhere we kept moving. This had been a certainly fine amount of time while hopefully staying anonymous, I didn’t want to lose the trend we had kept up. Thankfully our next stop happened to be outside. A farmers market of sorts was set up just outside the center we exited. Tables lined up, each catering or selling something different. You could smell an assortment of different spices and flavors in the air. Whether spicy or sweet a marinating aroma filled the atmosphere. Other tables held other items, such as jewelry, candles, and other antique-like items. This would be tricky, I had to seriously mind my own business while looking around because corners were tight and If I looked at my subject too many times then they would surely notice me. About five more minutes went by, and I walked along the alley of tables, keeping a little extra distance from my subject. Soon though, without making any purchases, they exit the market and continue on.

Following along this road we are now in a new neighborhood. It is a bit quieter here but just as friendly. Close by is Lincoln Park highschool, a colossal-sized building. I figured the residents within these surrounding houses may hold someone that attends here. Maybe my subject holds some sort of significance there. While the earbuds haven’t come out yet, and my presence has remained anonymous, my subject soon slows in front of a house, pulls out a key, and enters. I slow my pace and just keep watch on my phone. I don’t pay attention to my subjects’ destination, like I said before I don’t want to partake in that, but more experience their journey ‘second hand’. I continued through the neighborhood and tried to become familiar with the area I was in. I had never been here before or to any of the other destinations we stopped at. I was satisfied with the experience because of that, being relatively new here I want to dive deep into the exploration of my new environment. Even if that means standing in a moment like now without a clue of where I am. I pulled out my phone’s GPS to find that I luckily had not gone too far and my house would just be a couple of blocks ahead. I concluded my walk from there.

To “lose oneself in a city”, to lose oneself in all. I feel like what Rebecca refers to as “losing yourself” is more of a mental metaphor. I’ve had moments where I ‘lose myself in a certain sense depending on the environment. It’s a state of mind where you are mentally and physically focused on a particular moment of your life that you are living. I can remember a time which for me would probably be the first time I ever visited the city. I was very young, we have family that lives close to the Lincoln park area so we frequently visited. Seeing the buildings and overall the eruption of chaos was intense for me at first, but little by little I almost became more curious. If there is one particular moment from that day that I remember the most, it was while we were on the train in the evening. I looked out my window and there was just something very mesmerizing about the way all of the lights came together. Lines and lines of cars piled up, all shining bright, and the buildings shined down onto the cars and up into the night sky. The L tracks emitted another shade crossing over the others. When you stepped back and watched it all come together it became this irreplaceable scene. I hold a fascination with sequences like that. Different components all work together to make something big happen. That is one particular moment that I remember truly losing myself within an environment, more particularly the city.

My mapped route…