7th of July 2017. Vienna. First district walk and Musikverein.
“Tried doing the exercise in the Musekverein. Kept getting distracted by my emotional irritation towards other tourists. I was sat on the floor in that back, (the cheap entrance). Lots of oriental looking tourists started gathering there also.
I decided to sit and look at the ceiling and just listen, as seeing was difficult. Turned out I was only able to concentrate in short sequences as I was interrupted visually by the bright light of a mobile phone near me doing selfies and verbal sound over a sound I was highly enjoying. I tried to observe my reaction to this as part of the exercise and it lasted moments before I found myself being angry as opposed to observing myself be angry.
The exercise consisted in this case of maintaining an exhausting thread between the detached instances and the identified ones. I was really trying to be stronger in discipline and will than in simple reaction, but wasn´t too satisfied with my efforts.
I decided to sit and look at the ceiling and just listen, as seeing was difficult. Turned out I was only able to concentrate in short sequences as I was interrupted visually by the bright light of a mobile phone near me doing selfies and verbal sound over a sound I was highly enjoying. I tried to observe my reaction to this as part of the exercise and it lasted moments before I found myself being angry as opposed to observing myself be angry.
The exercise consisted in this case of maintaining an exhausting thread between the detached instances and the identified ones. I was really trying to be stronger in discipline and will than in simple reaction, but wasn´t too satisfied with my efforts.
The instances I was able to see beyond the place I was in and the situation I was in, I was able to feel how the sound of high pitched sounds visually hit the walls and went in them, filtering, turning into solid memory. The walls are made of solid sound and melody. The high pitched sounds I usually have trouble with because of my hearing, didn´t stricke me as I was expecting. My body was on guard and didn´t get wounded by them, and finally was able to relax and follow them into the walls. Space was filled with sounds made of light creating shadows.
These were instances interrupted by sounds and lights from the people around me. I also found myself wondering whether they were able to hear the music, as I looked at them I once again saw humans who were actually elsewhere although their body was there.
In the middle pause I decided to leave. It was too much effort to keep a balance between the music, other noisy tourists and my exercise.
When I left I walked though some streets in the First Distric. I was only trying to do a bit more of my exercise but found myself once again surrounded by hordes of tourists, and I could only see them in the same light I had just experienced the ones in the Musikverein.So I sat down in a café and wrote all I had experienced. Some of what I have just expressed here. An other part went into a text I reflected on the idea of tourism and it´s impact on the environment, but that is not part of this exercise.”
