e-amble: sounds for restorative and contemplative walking
by Michael Gallagher
November 2015
by Michael Gallagher
November 2015
This playlist was done with a bit of encouragement after I mentioned I had playlists for specific purposes (and titled as such): Walking, Reading, Writing 1, 2, 3, etc. There are tracks that overlap throughout these playlists, providing some continuity as I make my way through my working and non-working day. This playlist is from one such playlist (one of three walking-inspired soundtracks in circulation on my phone at the moment). Before jumping in to the role of walking in my learning practice, perhaps I can cut to the chase and list the tracks themselves.
The playlist starts, as most of mine do, in the ethereal space: lots of dreamy, repetitive sounds without vocals (Eluvium, Matthew Cooper, Hammock, Inventions). This is partly in response to the state my head is in after finishing a bit of elearning activity (writing, teaching, or collaborating). I am out there, in the clouds, and my legs need to catch up to my head so I go for a walk through the ever-busy streets of Seoul. Once out there, though, I transform from the ethereal and the contemplative sort, to one battling his expat-ness, to one firmly situated in East Asia. There is a process here that I suspect is necessary post e-learning, one that situates me, again, amidst this context, this place and now.
So amidst the hustle of East Asia, the throngs, the outright stares, the fleeting smiles, the darting glances, the shops, the treacherous pavement, I move beyond the ethereal and into the contrast (the Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, and Father John Misty bits) of the expat American with the East Asian context. This contrast is, I suppose, necessary. I move from contemplative to a hyper-awareness of my immediate surroundings and my contrast with these surroundings. I am still oscillating back and forth between the elearning (mlearning at this point, I suppose) with my phone, but less so. I am acclimating to the context of Seoul. So the contrasting music pushes me along and I shift from thinker to explorer. On foot, alternating routes, walking down alleys and so forth.
Then the balance sets in clumsily, hence the last track (it is a Chinese track that I have spliced out of an episode from the American TV show Louie). The character in this music (which you can hear asking for directions in Beijing) mirrors my own interactions in Seoul, but it is not frantic. It is accepting and wide-eyed and eager to learn more. I am alright being lost. While the contemplative ends (I am no longer reflecting on anything aside from what I am experiencing), the learning begins anew. On foot. In the now. Engaging and wading through my material, my artifacts, and learning activity. Along with 20 million other people. Hence this playlist.
Michael Gallagher is an educator, researcher and PhD student
- Eluvium: Adolescent Space Adventures Outside the Supermarket
- Matthew Cooper: Some Days are Better than Others
- Hammock: Dark Beyond the Blue
- Arcade Fire: Her Soundtrack: Dimensions
- Inventions: Peregrine
- Bob Dylan: Main Theme (Billy): Pat Garrett & Billy the Kidd
- Father John Misty: Only Son of the Ladiesman
- 沙暴 (shābào) (taken from the American TV show Louie)
The playlist starts, as most of mine do, in the ethereal space: lots of dreamy, repetitive sounds without vocals (Eluvium, Matthew Cooper, Hammock, Inventions). This is partly in response to the state my head is in after finishing a bit of elearning activity (writing, teaching, or collaborating). I am out there, in the clouds, and my legs need to catch up to my head so I go for a walk through the ever-busy streets of Seoul. Once out there, though, I transform from the ethereal and the contemplative sort, to one battling his expat-ness, to one firmly situated in East Asia. There is a process here that I suspect is necessary post e-learning, one that situates me, again, amidst this context, this place and now.
So amidst the hustle of East Asia, the throngs, the outright stares, the fleeting smiles, the darting glances, the shops, the treacherous pavement, I move beyond the ethereal and into the contrast (the Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, and Father John Misty bits) of the expat American with the East Asian context. This contrast is, I suppose, necessary. I move from contemplative to a hyper-awareness of my immediate surroundings and my contrast with these surroundings. I am still oscillating back and forth between the elearning (mlearning at this point, I suppose) with my phone, but less so. I am acclimating to the context of Seoul. So the contrasting music pushes me along and I shift from thinker to explorer. On foot, alternating routes, walking down alleys and so forth.
Then the balance sets in clumsily, hence the last track (it is a Chinese track that I have spliced out of an episode from the American TV show Louie). The character in this music (which you can hear asking for directions in Beijing) mirrors my own interactions in Seoul, but it is not frantic. It is accepting and wide-eyed and eager to learn more. I am alright being lost. While the contemplative ends (I am no longer reflecting on anything aside from what I am experiencing), the learning begins anew. On foot. In the now. Engaging and wading through my material, my artifacts, and learning activity. Along with 20 million other people. Hence this playlist.
Michael Gallagher is an educator, researcher and PhD student
