Cocooned
Once I arrived at the Schaumburg town square, I put on my sunglasses, placed my ear buds firmly in my ears, set my Microsoft Zune on shuffle mode, and began to wander around the public space.
I could hear the sound of water, but could not place exactly where it was coming from. I knew there were buildings around me, but I was not paying attention to their exact orientation in relation to mine. I was also aware of the fact that there were lots of people in the area, but I had no idea what they were doing there. By the time I had established all of this (which did not take long), I was fully engulfed in my music and securely situated in my cocoon.
The first song I listened to was "Call Me" by Shinedown. The sad, slowness of this song caused me to walk with my head down. As a result of looking down, I noticed trash strewn about the space, orange spray paint on the cement marking sites of future construction, and puddles left over from the rain we had earlier that day. The song made everything around me seem more somber; almost as if it were moving in slow motion. Since this is one of my favorite songs, it was difficult for me to notice anything else in the space.
As the next song, "The Way I Are" by Timbaland, began to play, the aesthetics of the atmosphere changed dramatically. I lifted my head a bit as the exciting hip-hop beats filled my head and noticed that the water of the pond in the center of the space seemed to be dancing with the music. I then happened to glance down again and took note of the intriguing geometric pattern made of the cement tiles upon which I was standing. Everything around me seemed to come to life during this song and as a result, my mood slightly improved.
My mood improvement was maintained during the following song by Trick Daddy titled "Sugar (Gimme Some)". After being engulfed in this kind of music for a second song in a row, I discovered that my walking (as well as the environment around me) was in sync with the hip-hop beats. I even saw a linear spill of what appeared to be soda whose shape seemed to match that of one of the synthesized sounds in the song. I was starting to really enjoy how in tune parts of the space were with my music.
I unfortunately could not say the same for the song I would hear next, "Call Your Name" by Daughtry. While I normally love this band's songs, this one did not seem to fit after the two I had just heard. Much like the first song, it was very sad and slow. I ended up skipping to the next song on the list.
Although the harsh and somewhat somber "Going Under" by Evanescence was next, it caused me to notice certain details about the space that I would not have seen during the previous songs. These details include the cracks and imperfections in the sidewalks and the looming shadows created by the bushes and trees I failed to notice before. This proves that different kinds of music allow you to notice different aspects of any given space.
Next up was "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Guns 'N' Roses. The melody of this song caused me to slow my pace, listen to the music, and fully enjoy my cocoon. I was completely engaged in my privatized listening by this time and didn't record much after this point. After another handful of songs, I decided I wanted to be fully engaged with the environment I had spent so much time in thus far.
Throughout my cocooned experience in this public place, I hardly took note of any of the people I was sharing it with. I knew they were there, but did not know how many of them there were, what they were doing, or what they looked like. The few things I did notice in the environment were as a result of the music and are mapped below.
Engaged
As soon as I took the ear buds out of my ears and removed the sunglasses from my eyes, the place in its entirety started coming to life. The space began to engage me almost immediately, for as the ear buds were coming out of my ears the nearby clock tower chimed five times. I began to notice aspects of the environment which I did not pick up on when I was in my cocooned state.
I found myself taking note of all the greenery in the area, the colors of the flowers, and the kinds of businesses enclosing the square. I could clearly hear now that the water sounds I had picked up on before were coming from giant fountains in the middle of the central pond. I even came to notice that there was a smaller fountain off to the side where some children were playing in its waters; I hadn't noticed before due to the high volume of my music.
I also found it much easier to make eye contact and interact with the people I had been avoiding before. The pink stars on the map below indicate where either eye contact or interaction took place.
Throughout this portion of the walk, the warm sun on my skin and the light breeze in my hair became more apparent without the distraction of my personal stereo device. Once I was able to map my engaged experience, this notion became visually clear.
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