Nothing too crazy happened with playing the ukulele this week, I learned a new song and a new strumming pattern on the ukulele.
One space that has become a place or as Casey describes it a "container of experiences" is the living room in my parent's house. We moved into this house when I was 3 years old and since then memories have been collecting within this space. Memories such as Christmas morning, practicing the piano, and family parties all help to transform this space into a place. Some of my favorite memories within this space are the countless hours my brothers and I spent playing volleyball using the railing on the stairs as the volleyball net and Nerf basketball! All in all this living room is not just a space within my parent's home, but rather it truly is a "container of experiences" where memories continue to be formed.
I practice the ukulele in my room. My room was just a space to me 6 months ago when I moved in, but that is slowing changing as different experiences and memories are being made in this space. Tuan explained that "What begins as undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value." Practicing the ukulele in my room is an experience that allows me to be creative and provides other memories so that when in my room I think of the ukulele. Not only is my room becoming a place, but it is also becoming my home.
As we have been talking about place and space I have spent a lot more time thinking about the places I consider to be a place in an outside environment. As you talked about the living room of your parents house being a place to you, it made me think about my parents living room. I have had a lot of similar experiences in my parents living room and I would consider it a place. It also made me think about some of the other places inside that I consider as a place. Have you had any frustration playing the ukulele this semester? I have sometimes had a hard time in the moment attaching a lot of meaning to things that frustrate me until I begin to have success or can really sit back and reflect on these frustrations and maybe the benefits I am getting. Do you sometimes have a hard time attaching meaning to frustrating things? For me I am still having trouble considering the kitchen an important place so far due to some of the frustration I have faced.
ReplyDeleteThose are interesting questions that I had hadn't thought about. I think the situations or times that are frustrating initially make it hard to attach meaning or allow the space to become a place, until we have reached a new understanding that allows us to look at the frustrating times with new light. Sort of how the resilience book talked about how turning points can be both beginnings and endings. So when looking at the ukulele, the most frustrating time was when I learned the first song and was excited to play it. I recorded it so I could see how it really sounded. While listening to it, I became frustrated because the only way I knew that the song was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was because I knew that that was what I was trying to play despite what I was actually hearing. With that being said I was frustrated that the ukulele is mainly used to accompany a singer, and I am not a singer. Realizing that the ukulele was going to be different for me, I am now able to enjoy playing the ukuele. So in this case I reached a different perspective on playing the ukulele and was then able to attach meaning to the space I practice in.
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