Our phones tend to capture a lot. That is the main use for them I would say. An easy way to remember a moment is to take a picture of it. If you want other people to see your moments, well look no further than your phone! Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat are eagerly anticipating your all too clever pictures and captions. It really is a wonderful thing, our phones. They give us the ability to connect with people like no other piece of technology can. And as much as people like to bash on phones, I think they hold a great essence to them that allows people to be artists in their own light.
But as I was sitting on the beach today with my family, I noticed something interesting. Here I was watching my little cousins playing in the sand, my mom and dad peacefully reading their books, listening to my family laughing with one another, and the waves crashing against the shore. All was well. This lasted about 30 minutes. Then I started to get a little anxious. Why was I getting anxious? This could not be a more perfect day, I had everything I needed here with me. But what if someone is trying to text me? What if someone tagged me in a picture that I hated? What if the world was under alert and I had no idea about it? So, I quickly went into my mom's bag and picked up my phone. And thankfully the world was still intact. And as I sat looking at my phone, I stopped watching my little cousins play. I stopped listening to the laughter and the sound of waves. I stopped living in the moment. I was totally wired in.
As the holiday week approaches us, I think we should all challenge ourselves to not let our phones take us away from the moment. To prove my point, here are five things that your phone will not be able to capture over the Fourth of July holiday.
1. Mom and Dad.
The way parents beam because the whole family is together again. The way they snuggle up with you and talk about past Fourth of Julys and laugh at how you used to cry because the noise was too loud.
2. Fireworks.
No matter how great of a camera quality your phone may have, it will never be able to capture what it is like to stare up at the sky and see a multitude of colors bursting in the air. It will never be able to capture the wonder in your face, even after your nineteenth Fourth of July, as you ponder how there can be something so magical.
3. Siblings/cousins.
The way your siblings tease and love one another. For a lot of us, this is a time when siblings come home and the whole family is together once more. A phone will not be able to capture the way your brother or sister or cousin hugs you after not seeing you for a long time.
4. Parades and patriotism.
The sense of patriotism in the air as flags are being waved and red, white and blue can be seen from every home. The smell of smoky grills and pies. The nervousness you get when you light your sparkler and send it swirling through the air.
5. The warmth of summertime.
The feeling of your bare feet running through the golf course or the sand or your neighborhood.
