My journal by

A Walk In The Neighborhood

malikhamlin484 — 2025-03-17 01:17:56 UTC

My answer to this is yes. As I take you through this journey I decided to go somewhere I have never been before, I didn't walk to far away from the house but I walked far enough to allow myself to critically think about this space, the unique and diverse areas, the small details and even thinking about how other people may perceive this area. I decided to go somewhere I didn't know whether I was going to like the place or not

malikhamlin484 — 2025-03-17 01:30:16 UTC

As I began walking through the neighborhood I decided to reflect on the Introduction chapter 1 by Springgay and Truman, and as I was reflecting I thought of key points that helped me in my walk. One of these points being interactions with other people. Springy and Truman examined walking not just as a physical activity but as a practice that connects us as individuals to the spaces, lives, and bodies around them. Similarly, WalkingLab podcasts extend this idea, providing multiple voices and case studies that examine walking's potential for re-imagining our relationship with the world. This also made me think to myself, how meaningful could walking really be ?

malikhamlin484 — 2025-03-17 01:39:58 UTC

After reflecting on this idea I began to notice, small details that stuck out to me. Springgay and Truman emphasize that walking is not just about the journey but about being present and attuned to the world. This caused me to be more aware to and to compare the similarities between this neighborhood and mine and the differences. The similarities being the rules of the neighborhood, 25 Mph speed limit and stop signs. While the differences being nobody is really outside and if they are, they're washing their cars or cutting grass, signs in yards asking people to not allow their dogs to use the bathroom in their yard. Which led me to wondering more and more about this nice neighborhood.

What is the background of this neighborhood ?

malikhamlin484 — 2025-03-17 01:46:02 UTC

This neighborhood was recently built in 2013. So I began looking at the roads, are there cracks in the roads, do they need to be taken care of are there any potholes etc. The answer was no. The roads were very nice and taken care of I also noticed another neighborhood was built connecting multiple neighborhoods together. I also wanted to try and find nice places like maybe a river or a wall of graffiti maybe just to understand more about this significant neighborhood forcing myself to think outside of the box. I also noticed how there aren't as many social interactions here. Noticing this I wondered what type of people live here, what's their personality like ? I feel like those who enjoy a neighborhood full of partying, or a neighborhood that's close to bars/clubs may not feel welcomed here, this neighborhood was made for those who want to relax and live peacefully.

malikhamlin484 — 2025-03-17 02:12:59 UTC

Im beginning to walk back to the house due to my phone dying and I thought to myself what are the experiences that I have had on this walk that others didn't. Springgay and Truman joined out that as we walk, our bodies engage with the world by using some our senses like, sight, sound, and smell, these sensations shape how we view our surroundings. Walking research foregrounds the body as central to understanding place and space, recognizing that each body experiences and navigates the world differently based on factors like race, gender, and ability. Others may have had different expiernces with the smell in the neighborhood to where they didn't like it, maybe it could have been a dead skunk at the time. If you look in the 1st video I posted you notice there's trash on the side walk. I noticed that but somebody that was here prior to me may have not seen that trash/ the trash may have not been there. I may me comfortable in this neighborhood despite a little piece of trash in this neighborhood but others may not be comfortable because we all have different perspectives and that causes us to have different experiences. Everybody around us has a different experience while walking due to the fact we all may notice different or similar things or we may have walked across this path at different times.

Reflection

malikhamlin484 — 2025-03-17 02:24:02 UTC

As I reflect on my walk I am very curious to how this space is during different times of the year. Are people out more doing the summer ? How to the roads look in the summer, it makes me want to revisit the area and view the area from this same standpoint. I want to explore further into the neighborhood and go into the neighborhoods connected to it. I tried using videos to point out small details I noticed during my walk and connecting them to the podcasts and the introduction chapter to understand how we can use walking to understand others, but to also understand that walking is not just a physical movement. I also learned a lot of things while walking and this idea also helped me look at multiple things from different standpoints forcing me to critically think outside the box.