Taking Pictures (without a camera)

Some people just have to take pictures on their phone or camera, they want to capture something and save it for later. But I’ve never had that luxury before. You see, I’ve never had a phone that could take pictures, I’ve always wanted one, but recently I’ve begun to wonder if it’s better to not be able to take pictures. Because I’ve never been able to take a picture when I see something cool I have begun to figure out other ways to capture the moment. I’ve learned to “take pictures” mentally, to make memories. So today, I want to talk about making memories, taking pictures, but not like a photographer would, I don’t have a physical camera, but like a person living in the moment can. We all have an incredible capacity to remember things down to the smallest detail, but we often choose to store it in the memory of our technology instead. 

The problem is that we have technology with us constantly. We don’t go anywhere without our phones so it’s very easy to not be attached to the world. And when we pull out our camera to take a picture, that picture may come out clear, but when you look back on the moment and try to remember it, your memory will be fuzzy. The technologies surrounding us blur our focus and distort the images we see. Our phones divide us between two worlds, but we were only meant to live in one.  Now, whenever we see that perfect sunrise, or experience a moment of joy, it’s almost like we have to take a picture in order to prove it happened. It pulls us out of reality and forces us to rely on something else for our happiness. We are addicted to saving things for later instead of savoring them now. So in order to solve part of this addiction, we can make our own memories without our phones.

The process of making memories is all about finding ways to get your brain to store things away forever. But you can’t make a memory if you aren’t there, so step one to taking pictures is to be in the moment. Instead of being on Instagram and checking where someone else is, check out where you are. Look for the extraordinary in your situation. And once you find it, don’t pull out your phone. It will only pull you away from whatever is happening. Some things weren’t meant to be captured, somethings we just need to soak in. So once we’ve found the extraordinary things in our life that we want to remember, and when we don’t pull out our cameras, what should we do?

The second step in taking pictures is focus. Just like focusing the lens of a camera, your brain can focus on certain things that you want to remember. Once you’ve found the moment you want to “take a picture of” focus on every detail. The sights, the sounds, the smells the emotions you feel, the people around you. Those are things that an ordinary photo can’t capture, but your brain can. I still remember the first time I ever walked across a stage. It was four years ago but I was focused on every detail of it, mostly so that I didn’t trip and fall in front of everyone. And because I was so focused in that moment on everything around me, I can remember everything about it. When we focus, we remember every detail that cameras can’t capture.

Step three, associate. We all have things that bring back memories for us, right? The sight of the beach brings back childhood memories of playing in the sand, the smell of smoke brings back memories of campfires. We like to associate certain memories with objects or images, it’s a habit, but doing it purposefully helps us remember times more clearly. Associating memories with images or objects helps us hold on to them, it also helps a lot with step four: recall.

Recall is just remembering things we already know. When we take pictures mentally, we already have that information stored away..…..somewhere. Sometimes we don’t know exactly where though. Our brains are sometimes like squirrels who don’t know where they hid a nut. We aren’t all perfect at remembering things, but practice makes our brain stronger at it. When we do this, the possibilities are limitless.

We all have great potential to remember things if we follow this process. Our memory can store 2,500,000 Gigabytes, or 300 years-worth of TV. When we lay aside the problems and focus on the process, the potential is amazing. Since our phones have replaced our memories, we have begun to lose this art of taking pictures. But we should go back to it, live in the moment more fully and hold on to things for longer, simply by not pulling out your camera. 

I finally got a phone. Yes, a phone that can take pictures. You can't believe how excited I was. But when I look at all the people who are addicted to taking pictures, who always stare at the world through their screens, it makes me sad. It makes me resolved to never become that person. I want to be able to remember things clearly, I don't want to be dependent on the memory of my phone for all my favorite moments. So now when I'm tempted to pull my phone and open the camera, I think of all the memories I will miss if I do that. And instead I dwell in the moment, focus on the details, associate it with something, and later I can recall it consistently. That's how I take pictures without a camera, you should try it.