It was a Thursday at 3:30 p.m. when I was walking in Union Square Park. I tried to choose a place where I can sit and have better concentration. Then, I sat facing Union Sq. W and the block between 15 st. and 16 st. First, I closed my eyes and tried only to get all the information I could with the sense of sound and feeling. I started feeling the ground moving because of the subway that was going underground. Then I felt the chilling breeze that almost made me smell nothing from the surroundings. After that I heard people laughing, talking, yelling, dogs, leaves moving, birds chirping and I got relaxed because of the sounds. Later, I looked all my surroundings and tried to figure out the relationship of the people. It was easy because it was in some ways obvious if they were a couple or just friends. But I had to look with discretion as I didn’t want to get someone uncomfortable.
When I was observing things, I remember the text about simultaneous perception. I knew that I didn’t have to think about my feelings and my thoughts and my desires, but my reaction towards the place. I started perceiving things that I didn’t before, like the relationships of the people and even why they chose to come to the park. By the actions of the people, I could tell that Union Square Park is a place were people come to meet each other, to take lunch, to visit as a tourist, to walk your dog, for your children to play in the playing area for kids near the pavilion, for people to make some political statements, for people taking the subway, and for people like me, to just sit and observe the surroundings. Furthermore, the more I experienced, the more I knew things about myself but also from my surroundings. Things that I didn’t know before like when is cold, I feel like if everything is clean. I think is because when is cold, my body doesn’t sweat and also because I can’t perceive scents and odors that would be a hint for something to determine if it is clean or not. But the more I think about my experience, the more that I liked being an observer. Leaving my phone and started noticing things bring me observations, ideas, and questions about “why” of many things and “how”. In this way, knowing how to see things and how to live each experience, is vital to get to know who you are, what are you capable of and how can you change something. For instance, we are no longer people living in a certain place but critical observers looking for experiences and noticing the world.
