In Class Reflection: Living Aloof

 In Class Reflection: Living Aloof

In class on January 25th, we began the class discussing how one can’t fully realize what he was participating in until after the fact when he has time to reflect. We talked about the idea of flow being a transcendent experience where one is not thinking, but doing- only able to recognize that he was in a state of flow when he recounts the experience. A sentence that stood out to me this class while discussing this topic was when the professor said: “To view art, we’re allowed to be aloof, and aloofness is a part of spectating”. This doesn’t sound like anything entirely profound, we know that to view something in the moment we are looking at it from the outside. We are removed from it. Being in flow is being in participation of something, and being aloof is being an observer of another. What is not good is when in both circumstances one does not take the time to reflect on either.

What caught my attention was the word: “Aloof”. I’ve been told that is a trait of mine- not in the sense that I intentionally distance myself, but in the sense that many times my mind feels like it’s floating above my body rather than being connected to it. I struggle with staying grounded and being connected to what’s happening in the present. Rather than actively participating, I can easily find myself being a spectator in my own life. 

I feel like our modern world doesn’t really help with this problem. We are exposed to constant gratification without effort, and have so many different ways of mindlessly distracting ourselves. Practices like Yoga, Meditation, and Journaling are ways that help me reflect on what I’m experiencing in the present and bring my mind back down into my body.

Madeline Wells

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