Savor the Moment

It seems like every day or so there's a new gadget for sale that records a part of your life for later viewing. Web sites like Engadget and Gizmodo devote their entire existence to keeping up with the current electronic device trends. Digital cameras more or less started it all with a way to take pictures and avoid the high costs of developing film. Next came the video - 30 pictures a second to help you remember exactly how it all went down at your child's birthday party and the fourth of July parade.

As technology progresses, quality goes up and costs go down, and today's equipment is almost to the point where people can't find any discernible differences between the new item and last year's model. The question is not whether or not we have the capability to record each and every aspect of our lives, but rather if we should.

Going somewhere for the weekend? Don't forget your camera. The urge, or rather the obsession to "remember" something by recording it is what may destroy the very experience itself. Two years ago, I traveled to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area with a camcorder, and I came back with a pretty cool video. This year, I left the camera at home, and retuned with a richer experience.

Fumbling with a camera just to have some proof of where you went and what you saw may not be worth it. Did you miss your child's goal at her soccer game trying to take a grainy, shaky video? Last week at a concert, I saw many people holding up their cell phones recording video. I asked myself, how many times would I actually watch a video like that? Answer, probably none. The distraction caused by needing to record something only gets in the way of enjoying the experience at hand.

People need to weigh the situation for themselves, but moving beyond the hype and social pressures, I think most people would agree with me. I may be jaded by a work-life of capturing images, but I've come to feel strongly about living for the moment. So next time, leave the camera at home and just enjoy what you see.