Intentional Living
Live in the moment vs Capture the moment.
Conflicting Mindsets
I've been battling between two mindsets about how to live my life over the last few years.
Live in the moment. Be present. Soak it in. Put your phone away.
Capture the moment. Take a picture/video. Write about it. Form a physical memory.
In this post I'll talk about my experience with both extremes and what I learnt along the way.
Intentions
Over the past few months being in lock down, not being able to go out and see people or do things, I've spent a lot of time looking at the past. When I look at the past, it's always in the form of pictures, video and sometimes writing. This got me thinking about how I want to approach the conflicting mindsets mentioned above in the future. In this post I'm just sharing my thoughts on the topic along with what I've learnt.
Live In The Moment
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
A few years ago I deleted all of my social media. I stopped taking my phone out at restaurants for the mandatory food picture. I was truly (trying to) live in the moment. This went on for around a year - I know this because there's a huge gap in my Google Photos where I just have no real memories, besides the ones in my head.
I'll be honest, it was nice trying this out for a long period of time because when I wasn't caught up in capturing things, I had so much time on my hands to open my eyes and really see the world. I didn't miss a moment with my friends or family. I became a much better listener - something I'm still working on being such a talkative person.
After the year was over however, particularly now looking back, I realised I only have the memories in my head from that period of life. As good and as natural as that is, my memory will inevitably get flooded with more information each day and over time, the little details that I can remember from my living in the moment phase will fade away, leaving just the few significant ones in my head that stand out from the rest.
I wish I had captured things from that year.
It sounds like a waste of a year and one big regret but I did learn something from trying that out. Before that year, I think I was trying to capture a bit too much. Spending a year like that taught me which moments I should capture and which moments I should not. I know this because when I think back to that year, there are some outings with friends, and some funny moments I would like to see right now. Those are the moments I should capture. Anything else just isn’t worth it.
I guess this lesson is the silver lining in all of this. I'm a lot more intentional with the things I capture these days, although I'm still trying to find the right balance.
Capturing The Moment
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
The opposite side of the spectrum is capturing the moment, or so I thought...
I used to be heavily on this side of the spectrum back in my school days. I'd be capturing a bit too much and for the wrong reasons, more to showcase my life than to actually make memories to look back on. I think this is where I started thinking about the conflicting mindsets. So I went from one extreme to the other. I think I'm somewhere in the middle now but I'll come back to this later. For now let's talk about capturing the moment.
I bought a camera earlier this year because I wanted to start YouTube. I never had the intention of starting photography but it's turned into a really big side hobby (I'm no expert but I added some of my favourite pictures from this weekend's trip at the end). If anyone is interested, I use a Fujifilm XT-100 - a great beginner camera if you're getting into vlogging or photography.
For the last 6 months whenever I've been with friends or family, I'm far more aware of this whole capture/live in the moment thing. When I'm living life I try to make sure that I'm being present, taking in the sights, the atmosphere, being attentive and interactive, but I also look for moments that I'd like to capture. It's become a thing that whenever I do something or go somewhere I make sure to capture the moments I'd like to look back on.
I last went on holiday in February - ideal timing to get the travelling out of my system before COVID hit. I made little video clips of the whole trip and turned it into a holiday vlog and it really changed my view of these two conflicting mindsets. My camera has become part of my 'daily carry'. I've started taking it with me when I go out, just in case a good photo opportunity presents itself.
Equilibrium
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. - Thanos
Equilibrium is when two opposing forces or influences are balanced. In terms of these conflicting mindsets, I think there is a sweet spot in the middle where you can get the benefits of one without losing out on the other.
Take a picture of the sunset, then put down your phone and watch the sunset.
This quote nicely sums up my new approach to life, in terms of capturing and living in moments.
Here's an example: When I go for a meal, I might take a picture of the food when it arrives or of the people at the table (capture the moment), which takes a minute or so. Then for the remainder of the night, I'll eat, talk and enjoy living in the moment. I believe Hannah Montana said it first, 'best of both worlds' right?
Similarly with the sunset, you can get a nice picture in less than 10 seconds, then you can sit back and enjoy with your phone down. I used to do this to an extent before I started thinking (or overthinking) about the topic, but back then whenever I took my phone or camera out I felt a little sense of guilt. Now when I take a picture, I don't have that guilty feeling that I'm succumbing to the age of technology.
I'm simply capturing a moment to add to the documentation of my life.
After my live in the moment phase expired, I started back on social media and back to capturing moments but this time, I said I would be intentional about it.
I think it is really easy to fall into the trap of chasing clout or likes or being self conscious of how you look and what people will say. If you're capturing moments for those reasons, maybe think about your reasoning, they're not the healthiest ways to live. If you can let go of those thoughts and remember the main reason you're taking the pictures is just to capture things that you would like to look back on, you'll find a lot more enjoyment in doing so. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with the former, this is just what I do.
Why You Should Capture Moments
Since I had this realisation, I've been shamelessly taking my camera out when the opportunity arises. Sometimes people do give weird looks when I go to extremes to get a decent angle, but we can't please everyone. You do you. Surprising to myself, I actually encourage taking more pictures and videos. Get that good lighting, the smiles, the candids, do whatever you like, because in 5 or 10 years time, although you may have a vague memory of your life events, you won't be able to recall every single detail.
A picture however, can eternally capture what our brains cannot.
Finding Balance
I think this is the main take away from this post.
I think there is a balance between the two extremes where lies the sweet spot of immediate (present) and long-term (memories) enjoyment.
Live in the moment, but capture some of it too.
Influences
This is just a few random things I thought about or saw that spurred the idea of this newsletter.
Writing this post reminded me about Snapchat memories. With apps that have features like this, you don't even have to actively look through your memories, they just come up and I think it's always a nice way to look back on your past memories. The way I see it now is the more moments we capture, the more memories we have to look back on. It’s also a nice way to connect with old friends.
Episode 3 of Black Mirror - Entire History of you. - If you haven't seen Black Mirror, this episode is a good starting point. In short, in the future people have recorded vision, so they can replay anything they have seen. It's quite extreme and highly unrealistic but a cool concept about capturing moments.
There's a cool video of 2 guys playing ping pong and they hit the ball to the Mario theme tune. I like how they have a camera set up to record all of their games just in case something funny like this happens.
If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this. I appreciate it more than I can put into words :)
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Some pictures I took at Ladybower Reservoir:
✏️Insights of the week:
💬QUOTE: This is a nice response to anyone who questions your wildest dreams. I dream big so it resonated with me quite a bit.
Some men see things as they are and say "Why?" I dream things that never were, and say "Why not?"- George Bernard Shaw
📝NEWSLETTER: I signed up to this newsletter by Mark Manson and it's slowly becoming one of my favourite newsletters. This is his short intro to each one: Welcome to another **Mindfck Monday**, the only weekly newsletter that will always listen to your complaining, even though it doesn’t care. Each week, I send you three potentially life-changing ideas to help you be a slightly less awful human being.*
📚BOOK:The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Sir Ken Robinson is the first non-fiction book I ever read. It's the reason I write a newsletter, started a YouTube channel and got into all of this stuff.
The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels.
If you're sort of unsure what you want to do in life, or looking to find your passion, your calling, this book is a must read.
About the Author:
Daanish is a Biomedical Science Graduate and a Medical Student working as a Tutor.
You can find him on 📽️YouTube, 🐦Twitter, 📸Instagram and 🤓LinkedIn.
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