𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓?

Today is another episode of “Saturdays are for weddings”. Our esteemed wedding guests won’t fail to keep us updated and bring us highlights.

I remember having a conversation about restricting the use of phones during my wedding ceremony (if I ever have one) with my then partner. The basis of my argument was the fact that people are invited to come and live in my moment, and they rather spend time taking videos and photos throughout (let’s not even talk about the terrible photo and video quality of my event that might trend). That can’t be living the moment, my moment. I guess that’s why people take up capturing the moment as a career.

Few days ago, I attended a graduation ceremony whereby Nyangono du Sud was performing artist. The protocol had a hard time keeping away the crowd with everyone trying to get at least a picture or a video with him. Those who could not make it to the stage stood fixated on capturing videos and pictures they might never go back to look at, except of course to show someone who cares that they were there. They paid no actual attention to the presentation.

Again, I was reminded of how superficial we had become and the fact that it seemed to be getting worst. Are we losing sight of what truly matters? Before you mention, I am aware of the importance of memories to our existence. Yet memories are a simple proof of moments lived and reminders.

What happens when memories and reminders become the focal point and replace the moments?

We are for the most part empty and shallow because we have mixed up our priorities. Most of our childhood memories and secondary school days weren’t captured but they have stuck with us. The few pictures we have of those days are the icing on the cake.

On the other hand, we have countless pictures and images of events but no real experiences to back them up. The imprint of an experience remains with us forever, pictures might get lost. It’s obvious which one should be of greater priority.

So, am I suggesting that capturing the moment is bad? OfCourse not, it is only disturbing when it takes over our lives and becomes the only goal we strive to attain when we have anything special going on. Of course, we can blame it on the “attention addiction” virus we caught from exposure to the media space. Yet unlike other viruses the spread of this particular one depends on us.

A moment captured plus a moment experienced is bliss. So, let’s learn to strike a balance between the two. But if it came down to sacrificing one, it shouldn’t be the Joy of living the moment.

Most of Life’s beautiful colors are a blend of one or more colors. Taking out colors will cause the beauty to fade away.

Master the art of bending!