Blog Post 3 - Exploration of Mental Filters and Their Influences on Perception

     My husband and I went to Patterson's Farm to people watch.  I chose to go to Patterson's Farm, not only because it is one of my favorite places, but also because people of all ages tend to go.  There's a store, cafe and park for adults and a playground and pumpkin patch for kids.  What I discovered about myself through observation, was that I do not pay close attention to detail.  On page six of "Art of Awareness" there's a quote that states, "We need to recover our ability to see, rather than judge and dismiss."  I am always in a rush to go to the next place and do the next thing, that I am guilty of dismissing many things.  It was nice to stop for a moment and just sit and watch the kids play and be imaginative.  It was nice to hear people laugh and watch people bond and be creative.  Observing taught me to practice flexible thinking and mindfulness.

Description:
* Boy and girl -- around 4-6 years-old -- are sitting on top of a landing of a slide, on the playground.
* Boy and girl are talking for a couple minutes, before the boy goes down the slide.
* Boy goes down the slide and stops himself at the bottom, before hitting the woodchips.
* Boy screams, “Shark” and runs back up the slide.
* Two women with wagons are sitting on the bench watching.

Interpretation:
The boy and girl are exploring and using their imagination.  It appears that the playground is a ship and the woodchips is water.  The kids are discussing their play, before the boy goes down the slide.  The boy stops at the bottom of the slide because he sees an invisible shark in the water/woodchips.  The girl and boy both looked worried.  The boy runs back up the slide to get away from the imaginary shark.  The two women look like they're friends or sisters, watching their kids play together.

Parking lot:
Someone should stop the little boy from climbing up the slide, before he falls back.


Description:
* Two little girls -- around 3-4 years-old -- are holding hands inside of the Patterson store.
* The one little girl is pointing to a scarecrow, stuffed with hay, that's sitting on a chair.
* The same little girl bends her knees (like she's sitting) and the second girl copies the other girl's movements and bends her knees, too.
* They walk over to the scarecrow together and touch its leg.

Interpretation:
The two little girls appear to be sisters, keeping busy while their mom is at the register.  The one little girl is showing the other little girl how to sit, like the scarecrow.  They are exploring how the scarecrow feels, by walking over to it and touching its leg.

Parking lot:
Hopefully these little girls do not knock over the scarecrow into the glass jars next to it.


Description:
* Lady in her 50s is sitting on haystacks with a woman in her 20s.
* Younger woman is handing her camera to another woman walking by, who takes a picture of them.
* They look at the camera together and laugh.
* The older lady is dressed up in heels and the younger woman is in jeans and tennis shoes.

Interpretation:
Based on their energetic tone of voice and their laugh, it appears like the two women are having a good time.  It looks like they're mother and daughter, spending the day together.  Their attire reflects that going to Patterson's Farm was the daughter's idea.  The daughter wants pictures of her and her mom together.  The picture must have came out bad, since they were cracking up about it afterwards.  

Parking lot:
Who wears heels to a park?


Description:
* Middle-aged man and woman are walking around the store together with a bag of apples.
* Man and woman are talking to the workers, while picking up different apples.
* The woman leaves the man for a few minutes, while she picks up a book from the bookshelf.
* The woman opens the books, turns a few pages and brings the book over to show the man.
* The man reads something in the book and puts more apples in his bag.

Interpretation:
The man and woman are most likely husband and wife, who are perhaps looking for the best apple for baking an apple pie.  The couple are exploring the different kinds of apples and getting assistance from the workers and the recipe book.