To be aware.

Earbuds are meant for indoor, quiet areas. When I am trying to get creative work done (such as this company), I try and get into as many social areas as possible in order to find inspiration. You truly never know when you're going to learn something, or simply just experience something that makes everything click. But what you can do is put yourself in the position for such things to occur. Which brings me to my point, why wear earbuds when there can be nothing short of a sentence you happen to over hear In public that makes your boring Monday one to remember?

Now, I understand why people wear earbuds when they are working/trying to focus on something, but all in all why block one of our greatest and most beautiful senses? As I walked through the park today I realized truly how many people just want to focus on their own world. This isn’t a bad thing by any means but the amount of connections and missed learning opportunities from something as simple as an earbud can be broad. For example, I saw a dude walking and he had a solid style going for him today, I wanted to compliment him but I saw he had earbuds in and as everyone knows the social signal of earbuds is don’t talk to me. I definitely could have interrupted him and complimented him anyways, which I am working on being more extroverted like that, but the earbuds simply make something as positive and simple as a compliment more complex then need be. I used to be this guy walking with earbuds, not being able to hear anything but my music or podcast, but overtime I realized it was taking the beauty out of the world around me. I would go on a walk to decompress from my busy day, and relax but whenever I went with earbuds I felt the same if not more stressed than originally. There is something beautiful about being aware and observing the natural world around us, the birds chirping, the wind blowing in the trees, or even the crickets… well cricket-ing?

In summary, I guess I wanted to write this to let you know that if you're feeling stressed, or confused go on a walk somewhere *busy*, and before you pop those earbuds in to block out the annoyances of the world whatever those may be, take a second to realize the possibility to which you also block out the beautiful moments around you. Next time you go out, look around at the things you may even find annoying any other day, and try and find the privilege and gratitude in the experience of them. For example if your running late to work and a train stops you, instead of cussing it out, acknowledge how the universe is telling you to slow down, and try appreciating how you’re privileged enough to witness this complex piece of engineering roar through the city, as many others have never even seen a train before. Go on a walk, be aware, and make sure you walk with your head up you never know what you’ll miss.