I've been pulled away from ADAM for a bit to make some money...having fun doing so...
bing pulled away from ADAM sometimes means I'm not completely engaged in what I recently started writing about...but lately one thing that's been on my mind is eye contact...writing on what I've experienced and not so much researched I find myself returning to how we behave when given the chance to make simple eye contact with one another...depending on where you are geographically and culturally, I know it means different things, and even on an animal level it means very specific things...something that happens to me a lot is that in the midst of "observing" a subject for notes, sketches or whatever, the person may look up right at me at that very moment making eye contact that forces me to change my gaze...it's awkward for sure because my intent, I suppose, is to be a bit of a voyeur...I want to objectively watch, study, take notes but that's broken as soon as eye contact is made...
Another kind of eye contact that happens to me quite often is when I am passing someone on a sidewalk or something...I'll do my best to keep my eyes on that person hoping that if they make eye contact I'll be able to connect briefly enough to acknowledge them in a greeting and have them acknowledge me as well...so I keep testing...looking up and at them as they come closer...if they do and we make eye contact I'll force a head nod out of them...this is meaningful to me because I feel like we pass so many people every day and don't even acknowledge their existence...we do internally and peripherally because we need to avoid running into them or whatever...But I am part of that at times as well where I will simply keep my gaze somewhere else so as not to have to make eye contact...what is that? why is that? well I know for me I tend to be very private, liking my private space and respecting the private spaces of others not wanting to encroach...it's amazing how such a simple act can have great potential meaning...but I guess where it means the most for me is acknowledgment, connecting with someone else and saying "I see ya"...
