Life through a screen
Have you ever been to a show or concert and ever counted how many people are watching it through their mobile phone screens?
I have, and it’s a lot.
Take Bonfire night for example.
My husband and I took our children along to the local fire stations firework display. We does this every year, and every year we really enjoy it.
As the time to light the bonfire gets nearer more and more people start to gather in the crowds, and then as soon as the bonfire is lit, out come the mobile phones.
It’s the same when the fireworks start too. Some people even filmed the entire firework display on their phone meaning that they watched the whole thing through a screen.
It’s madness!
They may have just searched on you tube for fireworks and stayed at home watching them on their phone!
It’s the same for when we go to the theatre or a show somewhere. Whilst the majority of theatres won’t allow video or photos to be taken, I’m always amazed by the amount of the people who still attempt to.
It seems we’ve lost the ability to live in the now.
To see things with our eyes.
We have this urge to capture everything on camera and share it all over the place.
Why is this?
Don’t get me wrong I love to take photos of my family and videos to capture special moments, but shows and fireworks? I don’t think they’re special moments that need to be captured to the extreme of filming the whole thing. I mean, are you really going to sit back on the sofa one day and watch the whole thing? Probably not!
Instead of living life through a screen, we need to start putting them away and start living life through our eyes. It’s amazing how much more you’ll see when you’re not staring through a screen. Little details that may have other wise been missed.
Just think about how much life you could have missed out on because you were watching it through a screen. It’s almost as if you were never there at all.
14 Comments
Alan Herbert
November 23, 2018 at 4:09 am
I have to say I’m guilty of not capturing enough. I do get so caught up in watching what the kids are doing I forget to take pictures
#ThatFridayLinky
Dave Pearson
November 23, 2018 at 7:10 am
I consider myself to be a photographer but even I take the time to see life without a camera in front of me. Sometimes memories are more than enough.
#ThatLinkyFriday
Dave Pearson
November 23, 2018 at 7:14 am
#ThatFridayLinky (i will get the hashtag the right way around one of these days)
Enda Sheppard
November 23, 2018 at 8:35 am
You are so right … I remember looking at foreign visitors years ago doing this with their cameras, click, click clicking on everything, and missing the actual moment: now everyone’s at it! #thatfridaylinky
Wrae Sanders
November 23, 2018 at 2:22 pm
I try to take pictures when I’m able to but the memories are much better. #thatfridaylinky
Julie
November 23, 2018 at 3:05 pm
I always think this when I see posts on FB where people have filmed virtually a whole concert and then put it up for us all to see, did they actually see any of it themselves? It’s all a bit mad really isn’t it?
Jo (A Rose Tinted World)
November 23, 2018 at 5:22 pm
I will never understand this mentality. It’s nice to step away from social media sometimes #ThatFridayLinky
Rosie Doal
November 23, 2018 at 6:12 pm
I just get annoyed with people living their whole life through their phone! Look up people, you’re missing the beauty, you’re missing life! #ThatFridayLinky
This Scribbler Mum
November 23, 2018 at 10:47 pm
Very true. Though I admit I do this too but I just point the camera and don’t watch through the screen. I still look at the real thing. Lol #thatfridaylinky
Carmela
November 24, 2018 at 7:30 am
#ThatFridayLinky
This is so on point. I found that in order to strike a balance, I just shoot a few seconds of that experience and then I put my phone away and focus on the moment.
Lorna – The Writing Greyhound
November 24, 2018 at 5:22 pm
I think this is a very important point – young people nowadays will end up missing so much because they’re seeing everything through a screen! Phones and technology are brilliant, but there still needs to be an element of moderation x
#ThatFridayLinky
Jeremy@ThirstyDaddy
November 26, 2018 at 1:16 am
Sometimes I’m guilty of trying too hard to capture a good picture and other times I kick myself for not taking any. I think to many people the idea of being able to record moments so easily is still a novelty and that hopefully to kids ours’ age it won’t be that big of a deal. #thatfridaylinky
Kate
November 28, 2018 at 12:18 am
Amen to this! Hated years ago seeing parents record rather than enjoy Nativity Plays and it is only getting worse as social media takes over our entire lives. I never have my phone to hand and am pleased my 3 teenagers have the daftness of social media clear in their minds. There is more to life and as it is so short we need to live it rather than record it methinks. #ThatFridayLinky
Lucy At Home
November 29, 2018 at 9:35 pm
This is something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently too – it’s almost the force of habit that sees us reaching for our phones when something momentous is about to happen, and in reality, we end up missing it because we’re too busy filming. Thank you for the reminder (especially as it’s school concert season coming up – I need to WATCH and ENJOY rather than SNAP and FILM).
And this post really resonated with someone else too because they chose to add it to the BlogCrush linky for you. Hurray! Feel free to pop over and grab your “I’ve been featured” blog badge 🙂 #blogcrush