Cocooned VS. Engaged

     For my cocooned and engaged walk I started at my house at 1332 N highland Ave. and walked around campus eventually ending by the mathematics building. For my cocooned walk I put on a baseball hat, ,my smith shades and I listened to Jykl & Hydes 2023 lost lands set which is 5 seconds short of being an hour.  below is the route I walked. 

    I walked this route for both walks the the first one being cocooned and walking away from north University and the second retracing my steps and walking towards north University. When I was cocooned I definitely felt like I was missing a lot more of what was going on around me. I could not hear cars drive by or the birds. The glasses also limited my field of vision.  It was hard to think outside of what i was listening to because i wanted to actively pay attention to the set i was listening to. I remember from my cocooned walk as well that I did not notice to many other people. It was hot out but I feel often notice more people when walking around campus.

    On my second walk when I was retracing my steps back I definitely felt like I was able to take in my environment much more. I could hear the birds chirping and bugs buzzing. every passing car caused my head to turn. I said hello to people passing by and some of them said hi back. I also noticed more people around me as I walked. On this walk however when there was not a lot going on around me I found myself somewhat zoning out and walking on autopilot till the next car, person or other thing around me made a notice or movement to grab my attention and pull me out of autopilot. The world around me did feel more alive when I was engaged with it however. 

Comments

  1. Aaliyah RadebaughJune 20, 2025 at 4:02 PM

    Your observations are really vivid. Do you think your mood or mindset changed between the two walks? Did the heat affect your awareness?

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  2. Sabrina_PadillaJune 24, 2025 at 11:32 AM

    Elijah, I totally agree with wanting to actively pay attention! Do you think that what you listened to played a role in this? If so, what would you have listened to instead? Feeling on autopilot seems to be more common than we think. I think walking and being in our environment allows us to simply exist without having to think of much else.

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  3. Gabriel VerdugoJune 25, 2025 at 9:54 PM

    Elijah, I salute you for walking through campus in this weather. I really enjoy you description on your walks, especially when you were engaged. Being cocooned can definitely feel as if you're unable to pay as much as attention as you could compared to being engaged.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sage MarshallJune 26, 2025 at 11:05 AM

    I like how detailed you got with your senses and how you took note of every small thing you noticed from these walks. It's interesting that you felt you were on autopilot, possibly because there was nothing to fill your mind in between the moments of noise. It's interesting that the music changed that for you. It would be cool so see some imagery from the walks as well.

    ReplyDelete

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