Put down the phone and live!

As WordPress continues to recycle old prompts, I pulled another prompt from The Coffee Monsterz Co to respond to today

How do you decide when to video record an experience versus living in the moment?

I like to think that I’m better about living in the moment, rather than experiencing life from behind the screen of my camera phone than the average bear.

It’s really annoying sometimes. I will go to concerts and I will see people holding up their cell phone and recording literally every second of a show they are attending. I can understand why to get clips of a concert that you were at, but who is really going to sit there and rewatch the entire concert that they attended– from their cell phone?

But I think even more annoying, and then concert goers are the people who will be witnessing a real life emergency unfolding. Rather than getting involved, they will pull out their cell phones and start filming.

I think it’s important to find a way to strike a good balance. It’s important to know when to simply live in the moment, and when to capture it on video. For me, it’s a hard thing to really measure in any concrete form. It really is on a case by case basis. But I feel like if something is a moment that I know is going to stick with me forever, I won’t feel it. I will just live in the moment, my memories from that experience will be enough to carry me forward.

Having said that, there are those occasions where I might be a part of something that I want to be able to see from other people‘s perspectives. Maybe it’s kind of narcissistic, but I like to be able to look at myself and see how I act and react in a particular moment.

The only time I ever film something and posted it to Facebook live was a Black Lives Matter march that I took pardon as a member of the Detroit public Schools Community district. This wasn’t one of those events that some knuckleheads just cobble together at the spur of the moment. This was a peaceful March that was coordinated by the superintendent of our school district. We marched through part of downtown Detroit, and there were police officers standing at every intersection in every crosswalk we passed. It was secure, it was managed, and it was peaceful. However, that is the only time I ever really felt the need to live stream. Something I was taking part in. Even when I did, I wasn’t filming myself. I wanted people to see the protest for themselves.

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2 responses to “Put down the phone and live! ”

Silk Cords

March 5, 2025

There’s not much that I could add her that wouldn’t be redundant. I’ll simply say that the “it didn’t happen unless it was recorded” mentality of people today disgusts me.

Not getting involved in an accident is sad, but part of me understands it. Everything is liability. Sure you pulled my client out of a burning car that exploded a minute later, but she hurt her finger in the process so we’re suing you for 10 million dollars.

For the love of God though, do you notice how everyone stands around recording an accident or fight, etc… instead of simply calling 911?

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1. rebuilding rob
  
  March 5, 2025
  
  It is sickening. And while I know there a chance you could get sued for getting involved, I don’t think I could lie with myself if I just strode idly by a filmed a fight, an accident or an emergency.
  
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