Week 1

The guiding question prompted me to question who appears authorized to be here, on our walk, and who appears questionable. 

The moment my foot hit the pavement, I noticed a person with a charcoal grey hoodie, black joggers, and black backpack that paced ahead of us. Immediately I noted that a backpack = credibility and authority to be on campus. One bag signifies your belonging. As we kept walking, I noticed all of the cars parked behind our building. The parking passes that clung to every car window, blatantly displaying authority and power to park in their designated spot. I then heard the sound of a skateboard. My head snapped, eyes filled with a vision of a boy with a backpack, beanie on top of his head, and smoke blowing out of his mouth that billowed and wrapped around his face. The blue light from the emergency post, noticeable only for those looking in the daylight. A NO PARKING ANY TIME sign in all red commanding authority. Sapling trees sprinkled with bird nests, authority granted from the laws of nature.

My assigned role was power and authority, with a focus on rules, enforcement, permissions, prohibitions, security, and implied norms. My assigned role made it difficult to notice anything that I would be naturally drawn to. I know myself well enough to understand that I am drawn to aesthetically pleasing things on my walks. I take walks everyday and love seeing the beauty in nature, it is undoubtedly my favorite part of walking. However, with this assigned role there are negative connotations that accompany power and authority, as most things associated with it are restrictive. Having a single perceptual field gave the walk more purpose than my typical walks because  I was intentionally searching for things. What I've taken from this exercise is how little you can truly notice on a walk, and how every person experiences walks differently.

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