Instagram is my favorite social media tool. I deleted mine last week.
Without getting into whether or not you should be using such apps, I’d like to talk about my weekend.
I spent four days in North Carolina with some of my closest friends. We laughed, played soccer, ate mushrooms, watched anime, had political discussions, and drank copious amounts of wine.
Driving home last night, something hit me as I went to send my mom a picture of my time there: I didn’t take a single photo from the weekend.
This wasn’t intentional; it was simply a byproduct of not having a reason to use my phone.
I felt the typical compulsions to post something–to share a photo to commemorate the amazing time we all had. Preferably, it would be a semi-funny action shot of the gang–perfectly representing our shenanigans. Alas, I had nothing…or so I thought.
Actually, I have everything. It’s everyone else who has nothing.
I have memories, new ideas, stronger connections, a sense of love and depth. So what if I don’t have a photo I could post? What would that bring me? In my experience, it would provide about 24 hours of likes and heart emojis. But I already have real-life heart emojis.
My question is this:
The next time you attend a lovely event, or have an incredible time, would it be enough to just experience it?
If you post it, wouldn’t that make it not about the memory, but instead about others seeing you do something cool?
Maybe not. Maybe you get genuine fulfillment by posting such memories. But it’s an interesting thought experiment.
What would be so bad about not posting anything after an amazing time? Then it would be yours. Just for you and those you were with. You’d have stories to tell. People would listen, instead of double-tapping their phones for a 2-second congratulations.
We all have those 3-minute videos from concerts we’ll never watch again.
The next time you have an amazing time, don’t take any pictures. Just take it in.