Locality

Not originally being from Ohio, I find myself generally lost most of the time. When I'm not on campus or the general route the school's shuttle takes, I'm usually confused of where I am; especially since I'm more a visual marker person. As for getting lost, I tagged along with two of my friends who needed to do some general shopping errands. It was after dark, and I was in the back seat of the car with music blasting, unable to hear my two friends sitting in front clearly. We had started off by going to Michael's to pick up something for a class, this was near the Easton area, and in the dark it was generally hard for me to identify the roads around it (again, being a visual marker), but I had known where I was. We left that area soon after to stop by somewhere else. I tried to see if I could point out if anything looked familiar, as I did not know where exactly I was going, but I continued to stare out the window, not being able to hear either of my friends sitting in front of me. It surprised me that something simple as going to a store, even with two people that know where they were going, made me feel lost. It's those familiar things and places that made you realize you know where you were, and when they're not there, you're lost.

I had then really thought about the place I was familiar with, which is my dorm in this case. Right after the errand run, I ended up in my room to work on a project, but then I just examined the things in my room. In the long run I ended up cleaning around, only to find things as I went through a box. A few old drawings, books, even a packet of oatmeal. Each item I could link with a specific moment or a location where they came from or where I was when I received them. I was in my room which was my current physical location, but these random objects brought up a memory of location (or event).

My locality, purposely getting lost, and really examining familiar things made me think into my location, how places and things made me feel, being lost, confused, or familiar. Actually taking the time to think of where you are is an interesting experience.