Cocooned vs. Engaged

I took two walks over three hours: one where I was cocooned and another where I was engaged. To achieve the “cocooned walk,” I wore sunglasses and avoided eye contact. On the following walk, I took a similar path to notice things I hadn’t before.

The route I took for this walk.

Cocooned Vision

Usually, I don’t wear sunglasses because I have a protruding eyebrow bone that gives me natural shade. I can’t even say that this is the reason entirely because I just never had a strong desire to wear sunglasses.

Here is my visualization of what it looked like to have sunglasses on:

Cocooned Vision (sunglasses) - Map Creative Component

There were three main obstructions to my vision: the nose, the peripheral, and reflection. Naturally, our brains process visual images through both eyes and then combine them. The first thing that took away my focus was the nose blind spot, combined with the frame itself. Over a distance, this isn’t that big of an issue. However, when you have glasses on, this blindness is accentuated more by the frame resting in this area. To get a good view of something, side-eyeing is no longer a choice without obstructed vision. The second thing that distracted me was the peripheral vision (marked by the scored line). Inside, it is my visual limit. This is distracting because everything within my central vision is dimmed, and everything within my peripheral vision is brighter by comparison. During my walk, I would find myself veering off to the far left or right because they stand out so much. The final major thing that obstructed my vision was the reflection zone. The light is coming in from my peripheral vision where the sunglasses don’t extend. In certain lighting, this creates a highlight, and that reveals a close-up of the corner of my eye. Not only does it reveal my eye, but it also overlays everything within this area.

These three things took me out of the walking experience and lowered my ability to focus on other things that weren’t the glasses. I usually don’t wear glasses, so it took a while to ignore these things. Even so, there was still a hindrance to seeing with as much clarity and focus as I normally could without glasses. When people passed, I had less of an obligation to stare in their direction. I was more focused on the pathway and where I was headed because of my dimmed vision (which is an obstruction within itself). The brightness, vibrancy, and saturation of color of objects had less of an effect on me. From the above diagram and lived experiences, you can get the picture.

Engaged Vision

Next was the walk without sunglasses. This is usually what I am comfortable with, but I expected the differences between the experiences to jump out at me. It made me realize things in my vision that I take for granted. I have far-sighted vision, and I noticed myself looking ahead more often and with more ease than with the glasses on. One benefit of the glasses that I missed was being able to walk without the need to avoid eye contact. My overall presence felt muted with the glasses on, and social anxieties flew over my head.

I wasn’t

It’s always good to analyze things that cocoon you and how they may be influencing your experience within a space. This walking experiment revealed reasons why a cocoon could be either good or bad. What’s most important is that you are aware of your blind spots and adjust your attentiveness accordingly.