Altered State

The two things I did to alter my state were that I balanced a book on my head and simultaneously avoided stepping on any cracks in the pavement. I walked around campus, and it was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. I realized that when I walk, I do so without really thinking about where I’m stepping or what I’m stepping on. I also realized that, while I usually consider myself to be someone who stands up fairly straight, but by balancing the book on my head I found that my head is usually tilted downwards, and I’m usually looking at the road in front of me. The two together forced me to be very aware of my surroundings, knowing exactly the step I needed to take before taking it, and at the same time not looking directly down for any reassurance. It was interesting because the whole process of walking like that took huge concentration, and it took planning without any real close visual aid. It was as if I could plan seconds in advance, but nothing less than that – there were no spontaneous movements or decisions, and there was no stepping without thinking about it in advance. It was a very strange way to move around, and I found that I walk around with such ease normally, that I never considered if the way I walked and where I walked were dictated like that, how much different the experience of walking would be. This also forced me to use my peripheral vision much more.

People had very funny reactions to what I did. One car slowed down when they saw me walking with a book on my head, and one guy walking past me actually made eye contact with me and smiled for about five seconds. It was kind of awkward and people were definitely really confused, but at the same time I could tell they thought it was funny so it wasn’t that bad. It was kind of embarrassing, but overall it was an interesting experience that made me think about how I do things (like walking or looking around) so naturally and automatically and without thinking about it. Limiting these things that I do so freely made me walk slower, concentrate on what I was doing, and made everything generally a lot more difficult.