One of the biggest things that our generation is criticized for, along with our heavy use of technology, is how many selfies and photos that we take.
The more photos we take, the more narcissistic we are, or the more we are trying to "show off" to people. One of the greatest "concerns" is that by taking all of these photos, you are not living in the moment.
Sure, I get it. When you're out having the time of your life with your friends, or out exploring an exciting new place, you want to soak it up and enjoy it to the fullest while you still can.
Who knows how long you'll be able to keep enjoying quality friend time. Life flies by and we all turn into "responsible adults" before you know it. You'll only be able to explore and enjoy that place away from home for a few days, or maybe even hours.
However, I fail to see how a quick snap here and there detracts from your enjoyment. It's not like you're sitting there on your camera the whole time, paying more attention to it and making sure you get perfect pictures of everything than having fun. If you are, yeah, you may want to stop.
Most people don't do that, though. They're on vacation, see something cool, snap a picture and then they're done until they're moved again by something else. They're out with their friends having a blast, and at the end of the night take a group selfie to help them better remember their night. There's nothing wrong with that!
Honestly, as a college student that lives four hours away from all of her college family, all of the selfies we have taken have been incredibly helpful. It's kind of difficult transitioning from spending all of your free time with people to suddenly not seeing them at all for four months straight. Differing schedules make catching up hard, and it's easy to quickly start missing people.
It's nice to be able to look back and remember something funny that happened or anything else that was remarkable. Sometimes I even scroll through pictures of times I completely forgot about and it makes me happy all over again. Remembering the fun times and mentally revisiting them always makes missing someone a little easier—maybe only temporarily, but it helps.
When it comes to vacations and exploring new places, I think you have every reason to take as many pictures as you want. Even if you're able to go back and revisit the place eventually, it's still a new, exciting experience you're having. If you want to showcase your road trip to New York or your week in Europe, go for it.
Not only will pictures give you something to remember, but they'll also be a pretty cool conversation starter. Whether it be a relative too old to travel but still wants to see the world or just curious friends, someone else is bound to benefit from having images to attach to the stories you tell. And besides, some places are too gorgeous to pass up a photo shoot.
All I'm saying is that nobody should make you feel bad about how many pictures you take. Photos are a great way to remember, communicate and share. Get out there, enjoy your life and don't let anyone tell you you're telling your story wrong.
