Sociological Mindfulness and Sociological Imagination

This week we learned a lot about sociological mindfulness and sociological imagination. Sociological mindfulness is when someone thinks about the impact they have on their society and how the small things they do can change the world around them. It is important to be sociologically mindful because many times people don't know how powerful their actions can have towards the people around them. We were shown a video where Obama explains the story about the time one woman changed the mood of place he came to visit, simply by chanting "fired up, ready to go". He then went on to explain how she not only motivated the room he was in, but then he in turn left fired up and wanted to share how he felt with the people around them, as the feeling spread, her words became more and more powerful.

On the other hand, ones sociological imagination is a little different. A person's sociological imagination has to do with when and where a person was born and how that impacted their life. My mom who was born in North Carolina and grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama had a much different upbringing than I had growing up in downtown, Chicago 30 years later. The people surrounding us were different, along with the different morals and values that people had then versus 17 years ago when I was born. Even my little sister who is now 7 is growing up in a different time than me, just 10 short years later. Paying attention to these details and being aware of the different situations one is placed in by the environment they are surrounded in helps one connect with their sociological imagination much more.

Overall I feel that both of these concepts are very important. I am a big believer in positiveness and I think when someone is positive and happy, their emotions can rub off onto others. I have noticed that being sociologically mindful can have a big impact on people around you even if it goes no further than them seeing you doing a good deed and them thanking you for it. In the hallway yesterday I was walking and saw a girl knock over a big cone, she did it and saw what happened, thought about picking it up for a second then continued on with her friends down the hallway. I was walking in the opposite direction as her and when I walked by I picked it up because I knew it was the right thing to do. I didn't know anyone saw me but then after walking 100 more feet a security guard came and stopped me and thanked me for picking it up so he didn't have to walk all the way down the hallway and do it himself. Because I was being sociologically mindful I was able to do something nice for someone else without even realizing it!