Listening Exercise

Listening to the world around me seemed like something easy and simple. Today, I had an auditory experience around campus that surprised me quite a bit. My interior space was the weekly gathering of college coffee. This is not a conventional interior space, but it seemed appropriate because it was along the confined brick walk in Elon, surrounded by columns and conversation. The place was packed with people I knew, but I turned my back and listened to the happenings and be separate from the event. I have to say that the most challenging part of this exercise was not listening to everyone's conversations. Translating something I know as the English language into sound was so hard! I heard so many different voices and footsteps. My favorite sound from this location was the water pouring out the water cooler. There was a line to get water, so it became a rhythm that soothed and calmed me in the midst of so many people.

I sat behind Alamance building in a usual reflective spot on a bench. The wind here played a huge role in my listening. It seemed to carry sounds from the distance to me and whisk them away again before I could hear the words. I heard heals on loose bricks and a class on the grass doing a feminist lesson. The most interesting I thing I experienced, and this is perhaps why I like this location so much, was how the air conditioner kept turning on and off. As I mentioned in the project ideas, I have an air conditioner right outside my bedroom that does the same thing. I did not even realize it, until I almost fell asleep. I felt like Pavlov's dog because I was trained to sleep at the sound of the AC. I struggled to concentrate after that point when thoughts of my schedule and to-do list began to haunt me once again. I decided to retire 20 seconds early because 1o minutes seemed impossible.