As I've gone through my previous blogs, I noticed that my tone of voice in my writing changes according to my interest in a topic and the amount of stress I was under when I was writing my blogs. At the beginning of the semester, my blogs were quite impersonal and I wrote as if they were supposed to be short essays. As the semester continued, I got to know my classmates more, I got to know the professor more, and I felt better about writing about more personal stories and thoughts. I feel as if I have grown much more close to my classmates in this class even though it is an online class. Honestly, I never really expected to actually get to know any of my classmates in this class. I intended to simply go through the class independently because I only needed it to fulfill my study abroad credit requirement. Much to my surprise, I actually formed relationships with all of you through this blog and our tweets.
When I read through my previous posts and compared them, I noticed that I talked a lot about things that worried me about the topic. I did this especially during my ILP blogs. I expressed my concern, but also tried to stay positive about everything going on. My writing has also changed since the pandemic forced us all to go online. I expressed hope and positive thoughts for those who are going through major life issues caused by COVID-19. I hope everyone gets the happiest ending they can when all of this is over. I especially enjoyed writing about things that interested me. The Daily Creates were probably my favorite thing we did in this class. I loved writing about them and doing them. Doing them made me feel productive and I was happy with the work I achieved while taking the challenge. In fact, I may revisit the posts I made about them and I may even do a daily create challenge once in a while to keep myself on my toes. I truly value the ability to rant, express worries, and express hope through my blogs. It is apparent in my blogs with every change of tone of voice. I value writing my feelings, as I am not usually able to do that in other classes. This class has given me a chance to express myself through writing especially. I know I will miss everyone in this class. You all have been so good to work with and it feels great when you comment on my blog. I have been replying, so if you remember a blog you commented on from the past, feel free to go back and see my response. I'd love to continue hearing from all of you even after the class is over. You have my twitter handle and my blog site if you would like to reach me through either of those. I still plan on doing a travel Instagram next year for the trip, so if you're interested in seeing my travel experiences, please do re-visit my blog and Instagram. I promise I will have some fun posts on it! I wish everyone happiness and recovery from this pandemic and I hope nobody is drastically affected by it. Thank you all so much for reading and have a happy summer :)
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I took a trip to the sandhills this last weekend and I learned a little bit about myself in the process. It has been about a year since I last "disconnected" completely. I didn't have internet or cell service on this trip and I found it to be more difficult than I expected. I have been contemplating the events of the weekend a lot since I got back home and I used my phone for the first time in four days. It felt good to get it back, but I also feel like it didn't last long enough. I almost wish I could get away from my phone again like I did last weekend. I felt a sense of freedom. My stress level went down. I found myself to be happier and more involved in face-to-face interactions and small-talk conversations with my family. I was with my great aunt, my mom, my mom's cousin, my granddad, and my great aunt and uncle all weekend. I was the youngest person there, and yet because I was raised playing outside rather than sitting in front of a TV, I found myself to be alright talking to the older folks of my family.
I didn't find as much discomfort with face-to-face interactions as I thought I would. I found myself forgetting that I even owned a phone because I kept busy with cooking with my mom or petting the dog. I rarely noticed my phone not being on my person this past weekend. At some points it even made me feel lighter not carrying it. I felt like I didn't need to check it because there was no use. I knew I wouldn't have cell service or internet, so there was no point in checking it. The few times I did use my phone was to read books. I deeply enjoy reading and it was so nice to sit back and relax with a book without worrying about replying to people. I am admittedly a people pleaser and sometimes people dislike when you disconnect or don't reply to them for days. With the excuse of being out of cell service, I felt like a burden was lifted off of me. I was much more relaxed and felt like I didn't owe anyone a reply. It was very nice. So there you have it. My take on disconnecting. |
AuthorDaria Dart Archives |