I was inspired by Amy’s post to write about living in the
moment. She mentioned that she likes taking pictures at concerts, but will
occasionally stop to enjoy the music. Yes, using our phones to take videos and
pictures allows us to look back and remember. However, what is there to
remember when the whole time you were too busy to actually enjoy it. Why do we
need our phones, cameras, or anything to hold onto our memories for us? Aren’t
we perfectly capable of remembering ourselves? A picture or video cannot tell
you how you felt that moment. Only you know how you felt.
My little brother’s birthday recently passed. He turned four
on Tuesday. When it was time to sing Happy Birthday, my dad took out his phone
to record it. We ended up singing the song at least five times because there
was either someone not singing or the lighting was not right. My dad was so
worried about getting it perfect, he didn’t enjoy the moment. Honestly, none of
us really did. The song lost meaning after the first time and my little brother
didn’t really care anymore. He just wanted to eat some cake and get back to his
video game (he is only four and all he does all day is play video games). Sure,
we can watch the video and still remember how excited he was even though it didn’t
happen exactly the way it does on the video. Videos and pictures don’t mean anything if you don't enjoy and live in
the moment.
I always thought that the camera's incapability of capturing the beauty or grand scale of colors in a certain scene was nature's way of telling us to pay attention. it's funny how the only way to relive a memory is through a video or photograph, but if you were looking through a screen when that memory was being made, you don't attach emotions to it. And when you end up replaying that video or holding that picture in your hand, it suddenly becomes unimportant and narrowed down to one still frame, when in reality, it could have been so much more.
ReplyDeleteI'm a sentimental person and I love taking pictures, but you guys are totally right in that having a photo is useless if you weren't actually enjoying the moment. It’s like some magic is lost when you're trying to take the perfect photo or video rather than living it. I mean, what good is a photo if the memories it brings was of you taking it right? Anyway, I was recently going through my old photos and realized that I had so many – most of which were of a time that I don’t really care much about anymore so I found it silly to even have it. They were basically just taking up space and collecting dust. I guess this made me realize that I should take a photo or two just to remember what I did that particular day and who I was with because honestly, I won’t care in two years about it. I feel like our generation over-uses the camera and we take pictures of pretty much anything we feel like instead of saving it for a special occasion.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI'm glad you brought up the over-use of the camera. It's like you said we take pictures of anything. Today I walked home after practice with my friend and she took a picture of a car that was parked terribly. I'm not gonna lie and say that I don't do this either, but after reading Amy's post I started to think about how I and those around me use cameras. It's stupid because looking back at that picture will do nothing. There will be no meaning behind it.
DeleteExactly! When I was looking through all my old photos, all I could think about was "How is this relevant to me now?" Like, I have photos of the sky, a tree, and other arbitrary stuff that has no affect on me now whatsoever. Gosh, its like this whole summer assignment is making me want to change the way I use technology, which I guess is a good thing, but still.
DeleteI relate to what you're saying, Jocelyn, because when I'm at family gatherings, sometimes it feels like the recording of it is more important than the actual gathering itself. That's why I agree with you how recordings are useless if you're not enjoying the moment.
ReplyDeleteOf course, not recording or photographing anything and just "living in the moment" can have its downsides. In my experience, it makes scrapbooking difficult if you have nothing to put into a scrapbook. I have yet to make a scrapbook.
You make a good point about the scrapbooking, Jeremy. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with taking a picture. It's just that as society has developed, a picture is not just about capturing a beautiful moment anymore. Mary highlights this in her comment. People take pictures of just about anything now. People take pictures just to take pictures. I wouldn't want my scrapbook to be filled with a bunch of random pictures.
DeleteWhen I read your observation, it reminded me of a teacher last year who decided to stop and listen. She went to Ohio to spend time with her very ill father one day, they were sitting together when out of no where he started singing to her. She told us that she was amazed because her dad had trouble speaking due to breathing complications and tried getting out her phone to record him. She was having some difficulties when she decided to stop and enjoy her moment with her father and because of that she now has it locked in her heart. When you are behind the camera, you are simply catching moments but when stop and appreciate what is happening, you experience and capture beautiful moments. Soak in those once in a life time moments and create memories that will stay with you forever. We don't always need the help of technology.
ReplyDeleteHello Jocelyne! Your post and many of these comments prove good points. Its honestly so tragic that people will do anything in their will power to make the moment seem perfect on camera for when it is later reflected upon. Sort of reminded me of one of Clive Thompson's statements that we usually seem to forget about the lesser and non positive events that we live through. But we still seem to have an issue having to remember every aspect of the positive enough to stress about having to record the moment and not actually living it.
ReplyDelete