Exploration 4


Smith, K. (2008). How to be an explorer of the world. Penguin Books.

Exploration #1:

Right where you are sitting.

Location: Valley Baptist Medical Center: Neuro ICU

Room 1237, Harlingen, TX

Day: Saturday, February 26, 2022

Time: 12:54pm

Context: My mom has been in the hospital since Tuesday afternoon. She was admitted Tuesday evening for stroke symptoms and I drove down from Austin to Harlingen, where she lives, on Wednesday morning. She waited in a packed ER for almost 30 hours in a hallway because the ER is like a post-apocalyptic novel. She had surgery yesterday morning to put a stent in her intracranial artery to keep it from narrowing which was causing the stroke symptoms. Sometimes, being an only child isn't as great as everything thinks it is. Especially in times like this because I'm the only one to be able to care for my mom.

  1. Hospital wifi is absolutely terrible. I've been trying to connect for at least twenty minutes; I've given up and am using my phone as a hotspot. I wonder how much it would be to add a hot spot to my cell phone plan?

  2. My mom is snoring while she naps. It makes me giggle because she insists that she doesn't snore.

  3. The nurses we have had have all been so kind. I can't imagine working in a hospital through a pandemic. They really are heroes. I'm going to buy them all Starbucks gift cards and chapstick. Everyone loves chapstick, right?

  4. Mom is laying on her blood pressure reader thing so it keeps going off and making a honking noise. It sounds like an angry goose.

  5. As torturous as it was, taking statistics this summer made it a lot easier to read the studies that have been published by my mom's neurosurgeon that are posted in the hallways.

  6. My mom had me bring her one of her fleece blankets that my husband and step-daughter bought her for Christmas a few years ago. She takes it everywhere with her when she travels. Who would have thought that a $20 fleece blanket would be such an important thing to her?

  7. This ICU Is FREEZING. 🥶 😰 😷

  8. The chair that I am sitting on is more comfortable than the one that I was sitting on in the waiting area. I wonder why that is.

  9. I really want to order the new iPad mini; it would be much easier to carry around and get assignments done in times like this.

  10. Hearing my mom laugh while she talks to her friends on the phone is something that I will never take for granted. ❤️

Reflection:

Why did you choose this particular exploration? What drew you to this exploration?

Honestly, I chose the easiest one that I could get done while I was In the hospital with my Mom. I also thought It would be interesting to pay attention to different things while waiting In the hospital room.

How might you apply this exploration to a study in your particular research area?

What types of novel or different questions could this allow you to explore?

I think that having students do this type of exploration would be a fun exercise. I would even consider having them choose a book or poem or even a painting and Immerse themself in it and try to do the exercise as if they were in the story or painting.

What did this exploration feel like? How did it influence your senses?

This exercise made me pay attention to little things that I otherwise would not have.

What did this exploration make you think about? How did it influence your cognition?

It made me consider small things like my mom's blanket, the sounds of the machines around me, and how I could show my appreciation for others. It didn't take long, but It was an immersive experience.

What did this exploration make you notice about the world around you?

EVERYTHING!

How did this exploration help you think~live~be differently in the world?

I don't think It has made me too different, other than trying to be more aware of what I might be missing while scrolling on my phone or reading.