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Why I Stopped Taking Pictures for Memories
I walk down the Strip of Vegas, surrounded by swarms of people — most are tourists, some are couples on a date night, some are groups of outgoers hoping to find trouble, some are kids who wish they were twenty-one already, and some are like me: wandering around their new home in awe of the beautiful distractions hidden in plain sight in the middle of a thriving yet so demanding desert.
Most of these people have a commonality though, hiding their faces behind a tiny screen emanating projections of future memories, future stories for generations yet to even be born. But in reality, these people are forcing themselves to forget the present when they take pictures. Our brains are fully aware that pictures are taken for memory storage, which allows our memories of said events to disappear from the front of our minds just as quickly as they appear. Quite ironic that it is the pictures we take to remember events that pushes us to forget these moments. It seems no one enjoys the moments anymore, always wanting to take pictures for their thirty second stories or for their infamous social media pages that scream to be seen by their audiences.
I donated my camera and deleted all of my pictures to make it a point to myself to be present — fully present. Not just a person showing up to an event for a cool picture in time, no. I am now a person who dives head…
