As a busy college student, the biggest reason I don't have a self centered lifestyle is because of my job. I am constantly required to assist, care for, and support thirty-three other individuals while keeping my own life in check. I've become very accustomed and comfortable to my everyday schedule. Each day is preceded by another which was just as or more mundane as the other.
Completing this assignment was more fun than the blackout assignment. Instead of having to grapple with the incessant rambling of my mind I was able to literally, be someone else.
Before this assignment I never understood why people follow television shows religiously, listen to the radio when CDs and MP3 connections are available, or buy the magazines at the grocery store checkout counter. Now I understand the reason is escape.
Knowing the words to every single song in my iPod I fall into a pattern each time I hop into my car; turn car on, plug in iPod, find playlist, hit shuffle, then pull off. My partner divulged that she listens to the radio while driving and I realized how the simple things in life bring happiness. Listening to people be phone pranked offered me the best laugh I've had in weeks.
When I went grocery shopping I bought a Cosmopolitan magazine which opened my eyes to the different things to do to a man's body. Being a VIP member of the 'V Club', I had no use for the sex tips but the Carrie Underwood article was interesting. I dived into a world I shrugged off and passed every time I went to Publix to get food. It was nice to worry about what 'he's really saying in his texts' rather than event deadlines, meetings, or residents pounding down my door at one in the morning.
Sadly, due to my staff meeting, I was not able to watch Lost but during the 48 hours during this assignment I sat down at 6pm to watch cable news. It was hard to stop cleaning, emailing, or social networking for that hour but I prided myself on being able to complete the task.
After returning to my media consumption life I can't keep my eyes of the magazine I wrote, and radio conversations actually interest me. It's amazing how we view information, based on where it comes from. If I felt magazines were a waste of time then I wouldn't value the information within it, no matter how accurate or beneficial.
As news consumers we must be able to evaluate ALL types of media to be able to receive information, no matter what the vehicle.
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Being thrown into someone else's world can be quite startling, can't it? Do you think that media gets by us? I think it gets by me all the time. I find myself repeating things I've heard are true, but don't know for the sake of a conversation. Then I stop myself and think, "Do I really know what I'm talking about?"
ReplyDeleteEither way, your account was both interesting and comic (your input on Cosmo was genuine in the best way). Any new habits you'd keep (I don't get the feeling Cosmo will be a part of your future habits--but I could be wrong).
Excellent work!
Very fun post to read, and a lot to think about. After reading a second time I was wondering, are people attracted to certain media because of who they are, or are people who they are because of the media they read, view, and listen to? What do you suppose would happen if you continued to live ythe media life of thsi other person? Would it change you, and if so, how?
ReplyDeleteGreat job.
We are what we eat, or more specifically what we consume. People are attracted to certain media because of who they are but they also become who they are due to media.
ReplyDeleteIf you're not a sports fan, you probably wouldn't pick up the newspaper and jump right to the sports section. I'm not saying it's impossible but the information you crave is the reason you search for specific media.
Now, media also makes you who you are because of the subliminal messages that are being taken in. If I watch enough commercials, while at a young age without anyone to combat them, I'll believe that I need makeup because flawlessness is beauty. Or that sexual appeal is the only way to attract a relationship.
The media we are exposed to as we grow up shapes us until we are solid masses. Once this has occurred we only seek what appeals to us.