September 6, 2023
On the topic of different kinds of memory, we were asked to guide a friend through a listening meditation on one component of our personal daily routines. First, in order to brainstorm and understand the nuances of our own memories and routines, we created memory maps which compiled key moments of our day-to-night routine, stockpiling personal and collective memories that weaved their way into our routines.
After detailing this map, I chose to use my dinner routine in my listening meditation. So, as I made dinner one night, I recorded ten minutes of my process and sent the audio off to one of my friends. I also took process pictures at key moments that had more sound. I gave her a general idea of what the project was, and what to report back to me. The questions I wanted her to answer for me were the following:
- What colors and/or textures come to mind?
- What physical and/or emotional experiences arose while listening to the audio?
Unfortunately, because of the lack of information I gave my friend, and also external factors such as being busy and the reflection being over text, I didn’t get as much of a reflection as I wanted from her. However, I used her responses anyway because I wanted to have a genuine reflection rather than an edited version. Utilizing her answers, I created a collage.
I printed out the pictures I took and used the colors and textures she supplied me, as well as her thoughts while listening. She gave me timestamps and a general idea of what she heard so I was able to link her reactions to different moments in the cooking process.
I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about this “listening meditation,” and I’ve also never made a collage based on audio and an experience that my friend had, so this was a learning process. In general, it was eye-opening on a personal level because while I stayed true to whatever I typically do in my cooking process, I was more aware of everything I was doing and all the sounds I was creating because I knew it was getting recorded. I don’t think this necessarily brought in too many memories because cooking is a thing that I’ve been doing more at college rather than at home. Still, I definitely pulled from what my mom has told me about cooking pasta and making sauce, even if those memories were very surface-level and deeply buried.