The Unexpected

This past week, one of the worst things happened after my final class of the day - my headphones broke. I mean I plugged them in to my phone and the metal part clipped off leaving me with no way to listen to my always reliable music on my trek home. At first, I was shook and couldn't quite comprehend what happened (I realize now how silly and absurd it is that I got that annoyed, but those headphones have been through a lot with me!) There is nothing worse to me than not being able to listen to music and I found myself wondering what I would do on my long walk home. With my headphones now gone, may they rest in peace, I was stuck without my media and I found it so quiet, maybe a little too quiet. I found myself taking in more of the settings around me. As I tuned in to other sounds around me, I noticed things such as scuffing of feet as they walk, or the crackling of a wrapper being crumpled up, and my favorite, a dog barking. I also found myself looking at other people more and seeing if they had headphones in or not.  My thoughts also seemed to be more focused and now that I think of it, it was peaceful. While I love my walks home filled with music, I came to realize how much I rely on this media and really how much it can prevent using times for clear, focused thoughts.  While I can't say that I won't walk home with my new headphones in my ears, I will say that I will take them out on walks home at least once every week to take a break from my media and to really take in what it is around me. This reminded me how media can be so consuming in our lives that it really is best to just take a break- even if it is hard at times!