A few months ago I bought a book- The Art of Noticing Things: 131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration and Discover Joy in the Everyday by Rob Walker. This book is filled with little exercises to help you unlock areas that may have become dormant.

When I bought this book, I was particularly stressed. I was having trouble finding beauty, or anything in the day to day- I felt like I was putting out fires and trying to set up a plan towards an end goal and I had no time left to dream or create. And I easily worked through the first three exercises, so quickly that I thought that the next 131 days would be blogs about my experiences.

But then

  1. The weather got hot
  2. the book did make me start looking at things differently
  3. I started to get my creative mojo back.

What does this mean?

It means that you’ll get 3 or 4 posts inspired by this book in the next few weeks, and then none till at least January unless they pop up on anything can happen friday…

But anyway…

The first exercise is based on spotting security cameras…when you’re out walking, look specifically for security cameras.

When walking with the intent of finding security cameras, here are my observations:

  1. you feel like a criminal if you’re looking for security cameras in stores
  2. Almost every traffic light has at least one camera pointed at it
  3. There are very few buildings on my block without at least one camera
  4. buildings on corners are more likely to have cameras
  5. buildings that have service doors are more likely to have security cameras
  6. are these security cameras operational?
  7. how many times have the police needed to access footage?
  8. how long do they hold footage?
  9. does anyone actually look at the footage?
  10. how many stupid things have I done that have been recorded?

I could not believe how many security cameras are in a two block radius of my apartment building- including how many are actually on or in my building, which is not considered a high security building.

This was definitely an eye opening experience…no pun intended… I couldn’t believe that I had never noticed these before. I can’t help but wonder how man other things that I miss that are RIGHT THERE! IN FRONT OF MY FACE!

What did I learn from this first exercise? There are so many things to see if you open your eyes. I’m going to try to be more aware of my surroundings, looking for the beauty and the ugly, the true and the false, the hope and the despair.

61 thoughts on “Day 1- I spy a security camera…”

  3. Welcome to paranoia! 😀

    I’m afraid, besides affirming a healthy concern about always being watched, you’ve made me feel like The Country Mouse. Most of my day is *not* on camera unless I go shopping all day.

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  5. When I leave my house I assume I’m being watched in some way everywhere I go. It’s creepy if I dwell on it, but I want to do things beyond the walls of my house so I accept it. Strange world, not sure if I feel safer or not.

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  9. Hmmm…I’m certain that I have straightened or readjusted my panties on a security camera somewhere at some time. Lol. I’ve never ever thought about it before. If I see security cameras I feel relieved. They make me feel safer.

    A few years ago a security camera was put in our condo elevator. It seems someone in our building had been going to the bathroom in the elevator. The stench was disgusting. And the cleaning crew complained about it. The smell went away after a camera was installed. The rumor was that workmen on the property thought they could relieve themselves without being noticed if they went into the elevator. ( I know, disgusting, right)? Turns out an old man on his trip to the top floor just couldn’t control his bladder.

    Security cameras are usually checked by whatever company installed them. But they also put fake ones in too. They installed real cameras in our parking lot because of a few cars that were broken into.. Turns out the camera in the elevator was in fact, fake. But, just having it there deterred people from doing crazy stuff or going to the bathroom.

    I’m actually very aware when I leave my home. I only park in lit areas. (Years ago I was attacked and stabbed, It made me cautious). I would use an entrance with a security guard nearby if I had to shop at night. Our condo elevator has an angled mirror inside. (There are a few nurses in the building who work night shifts and some health care workers who have evening shifts as well for elderly residents). Safety is important. So…I’m cautious and aware but I don’t get crazy about it. I wonder how many of those cameras we see are actually fake. Big buildings or corporations keep their videos for a few months. But small shops don’t always do that.

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  17. I could stand to reactivate some dormant things! Might want to get that book.

    When I think of security cameras, I revisit the awful episode of a member of our commercial building association who installed a security camera system around the exterior (without permission and feeding into his company computer) who then railroaded the association into paying him $8,000 for it!!!😤

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  21. Well, that’s a two sided coin. How much privacy are we willing to lose in order to gain security? I am so very thankful for my rural property for the privacy I have there, but when we are there my husband daily checks the inside and outside cameras we have in our suburban home. The other question is “how much do we trust those who have access to those cameras?” My answer is “less and less as events have unfolded this year.”😥

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  23. I had a bad experience with a security camera once. Did a little striptease for Tara in a deserted hotel pool. When it came time to check out, noticed the security camera footage from the pool right behind the front desk, in plain sight of everybody.

    Gulp.

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  28. Wow 😮 that’s a lot of security cameras. We have on our building but nobody accesses them except in case of a robbery. We had 2 robberies, one in which someone cut off the security cameras before robbing a motorcycle from the garage.

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