Cacooned

Living in Tucson in the summer, it is nearly impossible to jog during the day. The heat keeps me from jogging until later in the evening, usually 9 or 10 at night. I have no misconceptions about this being safe. For some reason, however, I feel safer jogging at night when I have my ipod with me. I listen to fast paced music, and I run for about an hour. This is not becuase I run a far distance, but becuase I walk for a large part of my "run."

For this walking excercise, I made my excursion about twice as long. I traveled my usual path twice. For the fisrt half, I preformed my usual routine. I ran and walked and listened to fast paced, motivational music. For the most part, I felt safe. I know that not being able to hear my surrounding is actual less safe than not listening to music, but the cacoon of my music provides me with a sense of security (even if deep down I know it is a false sense of security.) I get lost in the music, it helps me find my thoughts, and before I know it I am home.

I then repeated this routine without my ipod. Much like the article I had read about the Personal Stereo, I found myself feeling much less secure in my surroundings. I also found that I was much less motivated to go as far as I had before. This may have also been a result of how much I had previously exerted myself, but I also found that I was more prone to look at the people that were around me and wonder what they were doing. I no longer felt like I was in my own world, but I felt like my surroundings were more foreign.

I thought it was very interesting that my ipod provided me with such a different feeling, but reflecting on it, I also realized that I do the same thing when I am walking on campus. When I have my ipod I feel more empowered. I feel like I am more in control of my environment. I think in a large part this is becuase I am in control of the music that I am choosing to listen to. I had never realized before that my ipod gave me such a cacoon until I participated in this excercise.