Siobhan Smith ‘30
Staff Writer
Over this past summer, my grandparents made the ten hour drive from their house to mine to spend a week with my family and me. At the end of the week, as they were leaving, my grandma exclaimed that she had almost no pictures from the visit, then laughed to herself before saying, “Well, I guess I’ll just have to look back on my memories, then.”
Over the course of the past few months, that small comment has come back to me as I watch people around me constantly taking pictures, often for the sole purpose of being able to later post them. This past Friday, I went to Olivia Rodrigo’s “The Unraveled Tour,” which was incredible and deserves its own article, but I was surrounded by people everywhere so focused on getting the perfect shot of or for themselves.
So many people were watching the show through their phones, determined on getting the perfect angle, recording themselves and not watching Olivia at all, scrolling on Instagram or TikTok during outfit changes, and the entire pit was shoving their phones up so that they could record every second. This left the pit appearing as a sea of phones and flashes instead of humans. I won’t claim that I didn’t take pictures or videos; I certainly did take a couple, and I believe that that’s okay. However, I found that whenever I was recording something, I was focused too much on making sure I was capturing the song perfectly or making sure I wasn’t singing too loudly to be heard in the background of my videos. Whenever I had my phone in my pocket and was embracing simply dancing and singing my favorite songs with my best friend—those were the moments that I enjoyed the most, and also the moments I remember the best as I was the most present for them. I took the videos to make sure I had something to look back on, and yet for the songs I didn’t record, I can clearly remember them and can look back on my memories.
I want to make sure that I emphasize that not only am I sometimes a victim of the recording mindset but that it is not always a bad thing. I love looking back on my personal camera roll, old family photo albums, and pictures from friends and family. I love seeing the story photos tell and hanging them up around my house. That being said, I don’t believe that pictures should be taken for the purpose of having something to prove. That is where they become toxic: when having the pressure of posing perfectly, getting the perfect angle, taking the posed pictures that don’t actually represent the memories you made.
I don’t know the right balance between recording your life and putting down your phone—I’m still trying to figure it out for myself. I do firmly believe in living in the moment though. I think back to my grandma’s comment she made, and remember how just because I don’t have a physical picture of something doesn’t mean I won’t remember it. And most of the time, the parts of the night where I put down my phone and simply am present in wherever I am, whoever I’m with, and whatever I’m doing are the most enjoyable and memorable moments anyways.
Copy edited by Lauren Zerella ‘29
Featured image courtesy of The Mind Company
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