Looking at the ground

[Jordy]

I used to always look down when i was a child, going inside my head and ignoring the rest of the world. I sometimes still do it when i have to talk to someone for a long time, i am the type that can only look people in the eye for short casual conversations, if it gets even a little personal or to long i start stimming and looking at something else.

 

[NeilM]

I used to look at the ground a lot when I walked (without realizing it) until the following incident happened. Before I retired I spent my lunch hours walking mostly for the exercise but getting away from people was good too. Anyway, one time a co-worker said "I saw you walking over on [xyz] street the other day and you looked like you had lost something. What were you looking for?" He had trouble believing that I was NOT looking for anything but it told me just how much I did look at the ground. Since then I have made a conscious effort to keep my head up looking at my surroundings and only looking down enough to keep from tripping over something.

 

[FreeDiver]

I tend to look downwards but not straight down. I have to be careful about that when I'm around women because they might think that I'm looking at their breasts and get offended.

 

[onlything]

Sometimes surroundings can be overwhelming, frankly. Too bright, too colourful, too much variety, too fast, too many details, too many people. Happens in big cities and shops especially. That's when I start looking at the ground. I observed that it's mostly a self-regulatory response to too much input, in an effort to limit information.

 

[Fact Ten]

I feel like I've mostly looked around for as long as I can remember. I think I only look down specifically on the ground when:

1. I say "pardon me", "excuse me" or some variant.
   
2. I'm going up stairs or steps.
3. To make sure I'm not about to step on anything undesirable during my early morning walk to work.

I tend to look downwards but not straight down. I have to be careful about that when I'm around women because they might think that I'm looking at their breasts and get offended.

Ha. Being 6'2", I suppose I do look at a slight downward angle a lot. I know if I realize women's breasts or rear ends are in my direct field of vision, I usually just automatically look straight ahead for the same reason.

 

[Siv]

I do look at the ground a lot, but I often stare into space. I zone out as well. I try to be aware of surroundings.

 

[_eri_bellehumeur]

This is something I have to make a very conscious effort to not do though I still find myself staring at the ground as a move through the world a good majority of the time. As others have said, my natural inclination is just to look at the ground- partially because I day dream a lot and it's easier to be in my head if I don't have to focus on what's happening around me, but I'm also just clumsy. The city doesn't interest me at all so I don't feel like I'm missing out on much, but my efforts to pay attention to things at my eye level are greater when I'm out in nature as there's things I actually value there, and it's usually less noisy, overwhelming, etc so the need to escape is significantly less.

 

[sport]

I do look at the ground a lot people have commented about this.I still don't like looking into some one's eye's.

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

Due to sensory issues with shoes, I tend to make sure I'm not stepping on anything sticky, papery, or too nasty-looking.