Ritual

An exploration in ritual and the tasks that make up everyday life, and the ways in which design can enrich, encourage, sustain or even create them.

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Task C | Day Six

I didn’t really reach any more clarity today. Just another day of on and off listening. There are some cool observations being made when I’m not actively listening, but I don’t know that I’ve experienced any product opportunity during the act of listening besides the fact that it’s super hard to constantly be observing and recognizing every sound around you for an entire day. Nevertheless, here are my day six observations.

WOKE UP: 10:00 AM

Myself Breathing

Sirens

AC Unit

Fan

Cereal

Clinking of Bowl

Traffic

Industrial Fan? (standing on McMillan)

Wind

FRIEND’S POOL: 12:30 PM

Splashing

Dog Paw Clicking

Inflated Rubber

Chip Crunching

Driving Hum

MADTREE TRIVIA: 6:30 PM

Background Music (super loud)

Children Shrieking

Dogs Barking

Chatter

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Task C | Day Six - Chatter Environment

MadTree Taproom - Oakley

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Task C | Day Five

Today I became a bit disappointed in myself. Despite constant urging to photo document our tasks, I came to the realization today that I had not taken a single photo to aid my documentation of Task C. I guess my thought process regarding the matter was that listening does not involve vision, so, therefore, photos were not necessary. BUT - today at Sleepy Bee Cafe, I realized that the chatter I was hearing was so particular to a brunch/cafe setting that I felt that a photo was absolutely necessary. I’ve been documenting “chatter” as a sound pretty much every day so far, but not the environments that enable the chatter. Keeping that in mind moving forward.  

Another thing I’ve noticed, also every day thus far, is that there are some stretches of the day in which I’m so involved in my own head that I literally can’t hear what’s around me. I’ve been documenting the sounds I hear in intervals thus far, and it’s interesting to me how I’ll be so intent on documenting sound one moment, and then the next be totally oblivious to what’s around me. Maybe a reminder could be in order (or an entire design opportunity?). Stay tuned.

WOKE UP/BRUNCH: 10:30 AM

Footsteps

AC Unit

Brunch Chatter

plates clinking

kitchen noise

conversation

babies

Camera Shutter

Traffic

Sound of Driving (from within my car)

Weird ringing?

AC Unit

Kitchen Sink

Blender

DOING SCHOOL: 1:00 PM

Knuckles Cracking

Keyboard

Type Noise (on phone)

Phone Lock Sound

COOKOUT @ EDEN PARK: 4:00

Cars Driving

Park Chatter

conversation

grilling

Footsteps

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Task C | Day Five - Brunch Chatter Environment

Sleepy Bee Cafe - Oakley

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Task C | Day Four

I had a change of environment today so new sounds and lack of sounds were thrown into the mix. I’m still frustrated, but I’m really hoping I reach some clarity soon. I think white noise is so interesting because in most cases it’s always there, but it’s so constant that it doesn’t register as a sound you actively listen to. However, I actually had a few moments of pretty strong silence today! I went home for the night, so the street noise I’m used to hearing constantly was gone. Being home came with its own bundle of white noises, though, that I probably didn’t register. I just got to enjoy the calmness for a night.

WOKE UP/BREAKFAST: 7:45 AM

Sirens

AC Unit

Bagel Shop noise

toaster rattle

soft conversation

Coffee machines

Background music

Street Noise

CLASS: 9:00 AM

Shuffling in lecture

fabric swoosh - my new favorite sound

coughing

clearing throat

Lecture (Liz talking) -- I wasn’t paying attention for a small period of time so her voice became a background noise. Interesting.

Myself sighing

Whispering

Paper shuffling

Myself yawning (not happy to be in class this morning I suppose)

Ears popping - I literally do this all the time but it hasn’t registered as a sound until today

Other people’s keyboards

Vibration (phone on hard surface) - cool

WORKOUT: 12:30 PM

Background music

Weights

Treadmills - I usually stretch a bit before I start my workouts and the stretch area is next to a bunch of treadmills. I was about halfway through my leg stretch routine when all of a sudden I noticed how loud the treadmills were. It was so weird! 

DRIVE HOME/GROCERY: 6:30 PM

Lawn mower

Wind

Carts at Kroger

HOME/BEFORE BED (Loveland): 8:00 PM

Dogs barking

Dogs breathing

Dog sighing

Paws clicking on hardwood

Ceiling Fan

Heard my brother’s netflix from a different room - v annoying

Silence (right before bed) - silence as a sound?

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Task C | Day Three

This is by far the most frustrating of my three tasks, just because of how difficult it is to stay focused on listening. I feel like I’m not getting anything from trying to do this, but then again, I think my potential design opportunities may lie in the difficulty of staying engaged. Other thoughts regarding opportunities include how to create a sense of silence in a non-silent environment and how white noise and focus can stimulate a silent state of mind. We’ll see. Didn’t have any silent moments today, there is always some kind of noise in the background.

WOKE UP/WENT TO GYM: 7:30 AM

AC Unit (I don’t know if I’ve gone a day without hearing this)

Street Noise

Truck beeping (reverse beep)

Roommates talking

Refrigerator Hum (new!)

Chewing 

Police siren

Creaky doors

Background music during workout (stood out a lot today)

Cart rolling

Some kind of white noise in the rec restroom (a high pitched hum?)

Myself breathing

Adjusting clothing (fabric against fabric, love it)

Construction

Car & truck horn

Listening to cars pass while on the sidewalk - still relaxing

Footsteps

Stairs creak (my apartment)

Bag rubbing against me

COFFEE BREAK @ ROHS: 10:30 AM

Chatter - the most interesting of white noises. it’s SO LOUD, but a lot of times you don’t notice it.

Coffee machines

Background music

Chairs moving

CLASS: 11:30 AM

Chatter in studio (just voices today, didn’t notice anything else)

DINNER: 7:00 PM

Plates clinking

Chatter in restaurant

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Task B | Day Six

9:03 PM - My Room

Light: natural, dim

Scent: none

Visuals: messy, eager for sunset meditation, no time to clean

Sound: AC, street noise, music

It Was 9:30 and You Were Beautiful x WMD

Rained the Whole Time (Nicolas Jaar Remix) x Shlohmo

Laying Down: on bed, hands face down on tum

Stress Before: minimal, just sleepy

Stress After: none, less sleepy, very relaxed and at ease

NOTES

This will be a short update: nothing special this time around. It was a more mellow version of last time. No particularly negative thoughts came in so breathing was less intense and more calming. I was in a happy little bubble space. A+ in terms of relaxation and calm vibes. I blinked my eyes open again - same effect. This time my eyes just wanted to be shut though. Nice flow, easy breath, nice bubble. Lovely little meditation!

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Task B | Day Six - Environment (My Space)

I was super hyped on sunset meditation.

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Task C | Day Two

For the majority of my second day ~listening~, I was not super engaged at all. Again, there were stretches of time when I was very intent on noting the sounds around me, but most of the day I wasn’t super aware. UNTIL: when I was walking home from class last night, around 9:00 PM, I noticed that I found the sound of passing traffic relaxing. In that moment I became aware of my third task once again and also accepted it a bit more. I don’t remember ever considering “traffic” to be a relaxing sound prior to that moment, so I became inspired by how really listening can inspire and elicit emotion. Keeping that in mind as I move forward. Similar to yesterday, there was no part of my day during which it was completely silent. 

Sounds below! Bold = defined the day/stood out.

WOKE UP/DOZED: 7:00 AM

Friend Shuffling to Get Ready 

Birds Chirping

My Own Breathing

Roommate Podcast and Cooking

Train Tracks Screech

WALK TO APARTMENT: 9:30 AM

Cars/Traffic

My footsteps 

McMicken Bells

Stereo Bass

Construction

Street Noise (from my apartment)

People yelling

traffic

Pigeons

HAIRCUT: 10:30 AM

Hair dryer - annoying, but eventually blended

Running Water

Ambient Background Music

WORK @ APARTMENT: 11:30

Wind

Car Horn, actually ended up being a Fire Alarm - infuriating 

Hughes Kids - always annoying

Hughes Drumline

Myself Chewing

AC Unit

Street Noise (cars)

WALK HOME FROM CLASS: 9:00 PM

Traffic - calming 

AT APARTMENT: 9:20 PM

Keyboard - was fun noticing, I type so much but never hear it!

Cat running + being rambunctious 

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Task B | Day Five

10:24 PM - My Room

Light: artificial, dim

Scent: hair product (sea salt spray, very nice)

Visuals: messy, too tired to clear clutter

Sound: AC, street noise, music (songs below)

An Ending (Ascent) x Brian Eno

Looped x Kiasmos

Laying down: on bed, hands face down on belly

Stress Before: just came off a bad presentation, otherwise minimal. Had a great day, just super tired tonight and not looking forward to early wake up time.

Stress After: none really! I feel very invigorated.

NOTES

Today was super cool. I really enjoyed my lying position, but onto the good stuff. When I first started my meditation, tons of negative thoughts flooded my head and I began to feel overwhelmed by them. In response, I kinda dropped a “no active thought allowed” rule I’d been subconsciously developing throughout my other meditations. I started actively and very consciously using my breath to release the thoughts. On every exhale I said “release” in my head, and slowly the thoughts dissipated. My breathing became deeper, easier, and more fulfilling as well. It was so cool! It’ll be fun to continue to focus more intensely on breath. Another, now nonvocal, momentous song came on for the bulk of my breathing journey too, which gave me energy + focus. Its timing was PERFECT - the beat slowed down towards the end of my meditation and I had a few moments of total calmness before my alarm went off. Today the alarm actually upset me -- I didn’t want to stop!

In terms of the bubble: it was strong today! Something new I did was blink my eyes open somewhere in the middle of the meditation to see how it would affect the bubble (this was not a pre-planned thing). It didn’t as much as I thought it would and actually opened the bubble to the entire room. It was a cool feeling.

I felt more physical focus during my breathing, especially during the energized song, but not to the degree of last time. This time was longer lasting and in unison with mental focus though, so I think that’s a good trade off.

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Task B | Day Five - Environment (My View)

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Task B | Day Five - Environment (My Space)

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Task C | Day One

So, this task has me a bit unsure. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to constantly be noting and remembering the sounds I hear throughout the day. During some parts of my day, I would be super intent on writing down every single sound I heard, whereas other parts of my day did not include any sound recording whatsoever. I’m still feeling this out, so hopefully, something will come of it by the end of the week. I guess the original goal is to become more aware anyway. Interesting though, not a single part of my day was completely quiet. 

Below are the sounds I took note of. I’ve bolded the sounds I felt “defined” my day, or at least stood out the most. I’ve also included a feeling with the sounds that made me feel a certain way. Here goes nothing!

WOKE UP: 7:32 AM

AC Unit

Street Noise

cars

trucks

Cat Meowing

Water Running

Toilet Flushing

Shower Running

Cat Running

Roommate Speaking

Myself Chewing (cereal)

spoon scrapes against bowl

Hughes kids laughing/talking/etc.

LEAVE FOR GYM: 7:55 AM

Building Vents - I feel like I always have heard this on campus

Construction - always annoying

Cars/Trucks Beeping

Tools/Destruction

Cart Wheels on Brick

Keys Jingling

My Own Footsteps - kind of interesting to pay attention to

Others’ Footsteps

Weights (dropping, being loaded, etc.)

GO TO CLASS: 11:30 AM

Chatter

Birds Chirping

Shuffling

pens dropping

messing w/backpacks + other fabric-y things capable of sound

zippers

Professor Speaking

Coughing/Clearing Throat

Whispering

Swallowing - amazing what you can hear when you’re truly listening

Hayley Kiyoko - Expectations

Background talking/yelling over my music - infuriating 

AFTER CLASS/DINNER/EVENING: 6:00 PM onward

Pan sizzling

Clock Ticking

Cat

Train Tracks

Myself Breathing - calming

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Mindfulness, a playlist by Katie Tkacz on Spotify

A playlist featuring Hammock, Ludovico Einaudi, Nosaj Thing, and others

My meditation playlist for anyone who’s interested. 

I made this playlist back in October 2017 while I was on study abroad in Australia. I practiced yoga at an amazing studio there - very spiritual in nature. Each class was very personal which allowed me to learn a lot about myself while on the mat. I felt that my opportunity to be a part of the studio culture for just a short time was something I’d never get the chance to do again, so I made a playlist to commemorate and remember my time there as well as to keep the community with me wherever I went. 

Enjoy! 

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Task B | Day Four

8:20 PM - Friend’s Room

Light: natural, dim

Scent: technically none, but I’m in a different house so there’s a different “home” scent

Visuals: very clean, less clutter than my room

Sound: super quiet, birds chirping, train tracks, music (songs below)

1. Suaimhneas x Ceilidh

2. Orbits x Phaeleh

3. Do You Remember x Jarryd James

LINK TO PLAYLIST:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1233082925/playlist/1NRZeDThzxYvnGqk71bKQQ?si=O_Plb6YRRlyZH18xm8XoSA

Temp: warmer side of comfortable, wearing loose clothing (light + airy)

Laying Down: on bed, palms facing up

Stress Before: very minimal, save for a small hint of deadline that popped into my head as I wrote this

Stress After: very minimal! Forgot about deadline. EXTREMELY physically relaxed.

NOTES

So I think because it’s the first time I meditated in a new place, I couldn’t fully focus. Nonetheless, this time was interesting. I was going in and out of my bubble. Some stretches of time were extremely (more than usual) focused + connected while others felt like I was just laying on a bed with my eyes shut. I lost a good deal of mental focus when a song with vocals came on, so I will keep that in mind for the future. HOWEVER: during that vocal song, I felt more physically connected to meditation than I ever have. My body felt light and airy, like I could be floating. The song had more momentum and energy than any of the others I’ve played thus far, so I’m excited to see how else music influences my focus and connection both physically and mentally. 

Despite the physical connectivity, I think my bubble was the weakest this time. I had to pop it to enter a new meditation space I suppose. Maybe I should start meditating in lots of different places (maybe shorter times?) to mobilize the bubble.  

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Task B | Day Four - Environment (My View)

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Task B | Day Four - Environment (My Space)