ReTracing Steps

This past week has been one of the busiest I've ever experienced in my life. I've spent the most time outdoors, discovering new places on campus, away from the security and safety of my dorm room, and it's been wonderful. Two nights in a row, I found myself walking at night, alone. It was cold, so cold I could chatter my teeth if I so desired. So cold, I feared the thought of biking, the wind whipping more cold into my face and up my arms. So I would walk. I walked fast to warm, but also to mimic the activity of my mind.
On both these nights, I found myself contemplating the meaning of cold and the meaning of "alone-ness". Both are fascinating, relative concepts: cold depends on one's tolerance to lack of heat, while being alone does not always necessarily mean being lonely. I combined some sounds that I've heard over the past days and week with some words that I told myself out loud while I was walking. This is 'Retracing Steps', an audio poem of how reflection is sometimes the best medicine for the soul, even in the cold night.