Data Workshop: Doing Nothing

I must say, my experience from doing the Data Workshop: “Doing Nothing” was definitely one to remember. Prior to the experiment I had never been in a situation that made me feel several different ways at the same time. It was very new to me. My “Doing Nothing” experiment took place at my local mall. I chose to begin the experiment at 6:00 p.m. because it always seemed to be the busiest time for people to come to the mall, being that most people are getting off of work around this time. Initially, I felt extremely uneasy about starting the experiment. I wasn’t sure how people would react, and I never enjoyed entering a situation where I was unsure of what the outcome would be. But I began to practice the “beginner’s mind” and that’s when I remembered that I must be open to new experiences and forget about my own personal feelings if I want to see the world through sociological lens. Finally, after conquering my nervous feelings about the experiment, I stood in the middle of the mall and did absolutely nothing like I was supposed to. Within the first three minutes, nothing really seemed to be happening. The people who passed by didn’t seem to notice that there was some random girl standing in the middle of the mall doing nothing. After about five minutes of standing there, people began to stare …show more content…
I was so accustomed to normal routines, but this experiment forced me to “make the familiar strange”. I was open to a new experience that was very unusual to begin with. This experiment has helped me take on a sociological imagination because I got rid of my assumptions about how I thought the experience would turn out, and just focused on “being present in the moment.” Developing a sociological imagination is very beneficial because it will help me in future situations that I would have found unusual prior to this