By LUCY ORMONDE
Mum made me lie on the grass last weekend.
OK, I know that sounds weird. Stay with me.
It was a sunny winter Saturday in Sydney. Mum was visiting from Melbourne and we’d just been a big walk around Centennial Park, when she turned to me and demanded I hand over my car keys and iPhone.
“We’re having 20 minutes of living in the moment,” she said.
“No photos, no Twitter, no Instagram. Just take a second to breathe and relax. Lie on the ground and take in what’s around you. Just be.”
I think I get where she’s coming from. And I’m worried about me too.
A new report from the BBC suggests that smartphones are killing memories; that as society, we’ve become so obsessed with capturing moments, we’re starting to tarnish our memories of them.
Remember the old saying about stopping to smell the roses? That saying died the day Apple sold its first iPhone. These days it’s more appropriate for people to notice the roses, stop to steady their cameras, take a photo. #hashtag that photo and share it with their followers. #roses #flowers #beautiful #ugh
And that’s disappointing because a) it probably takes longer than the casual ‘stop and smell,’ and b) it contradicts everything stopping to smell the roses was supposed to mean. Right?
I worry that we’re losing the ability to completely immerse ourselves in what we’re doing, whether it’s watching TV, visiting family or catching up with friends for coffee; that we’ve becoming so lost in what’s happening on the screens that we’re forgetting to stop and enjoy what’s happening around us.
Top Comments
I remember hearing a successful photographer (sadly can't remember his name) talk at a writers festival in 2007 about how important he felt it was to leave his camera behind sometimes. He said he started to see things through a lens and analyse everything, which meant he couldn't experience it all. So he drew the line between work and down time, between capturing moments and experiencing them.
This was well before smartphones became as common as they are now, but I think it's even more true these days. But being aware of it is a start.
I can't help but think, well why all these people are taking photos, you're sitting there blogging about it. Isn't it sort of the same thing? People take photos to show to friends, to post on blogs and create attention, to remember moments...I personally don't do any blogging, I think posting continuos photos of your life on facebook is ridiculous but I get the concept of why people do it. I think maybe this post is a little hypocritical!
Hmm I see where you're coming from but I don't know if it's really the same. I wouldn't write an article or blog post when I was catching up with friends, for example, because it takes time and focus. A photo is quicker and you can sort of talk while you take it, but it means you're not 100% in any conversations or experiences - and that is the problem.
Your comment is an oxymoron