Excerpts from iPod Exercises EDCP

I see words leave the lips of those around me but they don’t reach... My sand filled shoes grow heavier as I walk and my iPod momentarily skips and I hear the sound of confused microchips and digital files.” The distance between Scarfe and the Forest buildings seemed very short. The loud music locked me into a loud yet peaceful space. My spirit lifted and everything around me became insignificant. I was not aware of my surrounding at all. I did not even pay attention to the people I Walked by. It was just me and my music blaring through my head, like through my whole system! Even as Main Mall had many people walking through, the music pushed them out of my space. It was the whole of my inside that was full of a spirit so alive as the outside world was locked away. Funny and interesting that this blaring music satisfied just me.

I allow my eyes to wander around, not paying attention to anything in particular, as the rhythm of the song helps me take this walk in a care-free manner, even feeling lighter in weight, as I glide along the pavement. There are several restaurants and bars along this side of the street, and the menus include pitas, pizzas and souvlakis. Of all the people I´ve walk by in a couple of blocks, no more than two have established eye contact with me. One of my favourite verses of the song I´m listening to coincides with my noticing the inviting smell of burgers in the air as I walk outside a bar that offers everything on their menu for $5. I wasn´t feeling hungry, but as the song ends my stomach is already rumbling.

I look to my left and see a bus rush past my vision and stop a small distance to my right. Two men in dark rain jackets surge in front of me and step into the open doors at the back of the bus, each holding a six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Immediately everything around me is reduced, even the damp grey drizzle becomes insignificant and I feel my spirits lift as the music insulates me from the world. I’m surprised how little of the walk across campus I even process. And then three minutes later I’m jolted back to reality as one song ends and another begins.

I spin the shuffle button again, and suddenly the concrete pavement in front of me dissolves, and it’s five years ago, and I’m walking along the gravel paths of University Parks, Pulp blaring in my ears. I would be concerned that I look a right idiot, smiling at nothing, feeling a bounce in my step, but I’m too caught up in it to care. My spirits sink as the song ends and the vibrant green cricket pitch I’m walking past in my mind is replaced by the cold, squat glass and concrete mass of the engineering building.

The sound of a Disney playlist fills my ears as I begin taking my first steps home after class. My lips move silently as I secretly sing along to Whistle While You Work. When the whistle part of the song begins, I can see my breath forming in the air in front of my face. Goosebumps spread across my arms and I tighten my jacket and pull down my toque. I listened to a particular track several times as I walked around and sung along as it plays. People turned to caught a glimpse of me as I sing and change tracks while on the move.