this video has been circulating the interwebs -posted on blogs, facebook, etc. and to be honest, i hadn’t spared the two minutes to watch it until just a day ago. i don’t mean to be a traitor to my generation (name that movie quote, go!) but y’all, this is us in a nutshell. gah, this is me in a nutshell. no wonder my parents get aggravated with me when i’m halfheartedly listening to them at the dinner table.
on the heels of watching this short clip, i’ve been thinking a lot about how i’m going to weave social media into my trip. obviously, it is a joy to share my adventures with my nearest and dearest and there is no better forum to do so than via the powers of instagram, facebook, twitter, and wordpress. but with everything, there often comes a need to master moderation. if my eating habits and spending habits are any indication, moderation and i aren’t the best of friends. but i think this particular adventure is a good of a time as any to establish some balance. a balance between wanting to share in my adventures right as they’re transpiring, yet wanting to ensure that i’m truly living in the now, being full emerged in the moment unfolding around me.
john mayer said something during his concert that i went to back in october. in so many words he talked about how strange it is for musicians to look out and see a sea full of heads eclipsed by smart phones. instead of simply enjoying the music in the moment, concert-goers reduce the experience to what they can fit within a 3″X 5″ screen.
his comments really resonated with me. how often have i interrupted a special moment to ensure that it was simultaneously broadcast to dozen of my friends? if we’re really being honest -too often.
so i’m making a pact with myself. i’m bringing an actual camera on my trip and i plan on exhausting its battery. for one, the photos will be higher quality than anything my phone could produce, and well, it’ll definitely help me regulate my social media presence, too. i promise to post a photo or twelve on my instagram account (@shawnaleeann), if only so that my parents know i’m alive and well, but i plan on saving most of my adventures for a recap when i return instead.
and what an epic recap it’ll be.
image via: pinterest.
