Live Life Don’t Record It

“I want to live my life, not record it.” – Jackie Kennedy

Ever go to a basketball game (or any sport your kid is playing) and try to record it?  Every time I try…Epic FAIL!  

If I concentrate on recording it, I feel like I miss the excitement of the game!  So, I try to keep it pointed in the general direction of play, but I watch it “live” instead of on the screen.  As you can imagine, I end up with a lot of blank court recorded with hootin’ and hollerin’ as the audio.  

I read an article not long ago that even the NFL cameramen say it the same thing.  Recording the game is NOT like attending the game as a fan.  Sometimes they can’t even tell you who won or lost!

Or have you tried to record your kids musical or concert.  Looking at the performance through a screen doesn’t allow you to take in the whole experience.  You miss the other kid twirling around or sitting down because he is bored of the concert.  Or the dance number on the opposite side of the stage from your kid.

Bottom line: recording life is a poor substitute to experiencing it.  

The quality of your experiences and your relationships is the most important variable to happiness.  Watching your life from behind the camera keeps you separated from friends and family.  It prevents you from unbridled joy of being a part of what is happening.

“Conversation is sweeter than any other action in life.” – Montaigne

But in our recognition driven society many people erroneously try to create reality through seeking our relevance and happiness from the outside in.  They record and post life events looking for approval, excitement, and kudos from others, even seeking justification and notoriety for their lives.  

But in reality, happiness and pleasure is primarily determined by our relationships, our experiences, and can only come from the inside out.  Epicures said, and I paraphrase, that we need life and philosophical enthusiasts, not just recorders of it.

He was the founder of the philosophical theory of Epicureanism which focuses on pleasure derived from knowledge, friendship, and a virtuous life. 

“Of all things which contribute to a blessed life, none is more important, more fruitful, than friendship.” – Epicurus

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, jack frost nipping at your nose, yuletide carols being sung by a choir and folks dressed up like Eskimos…some turkey and some mistletoe…”

Roasting chestnuts = Smell

Nipping cold = Feel

Singing choir = Hear

People = See

Turkey = Taste

Mistletoe (kissing) = Movement

….makes the “Season bright”.

If you are concerned about recording it, capturing each moment on camera, then posting it and waiting for others to ‘like, comment, share’ your life – you might be missing out on the best parts …and you can’t repeat them.  You can’t get the smell back, the sights back, the sounds back.  You can’t relive or rewind a moment, a happening, or a day.

“You can never step in the same river twice.” – Heraclitus

Life is not a standardized exam or a series of repeatable, identical happenings – it is a grand, ever changing series of experiences.  Ideas and innovation come from observing, experiencing, and participating in the world.

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experiences.”  – Soren Kierkegaard

Memories are made every day.  We experience things we will remember, and we participate in actions others will remember for years to come, many times more than we probably even imagine.  You never know when you make a memory – be paying attention, be fully engaged, not just recording it.