Being Present

Last night I went to see Lindsey Stirling concert here in San Diego at the House of Blues. Lindsey was really good live, dancing around the stage like a crazy person. Her opening act, Vibrant Sound, were also really enjoyable; any band which plays “Let’s get it on” by Marvin Gaye is alright by me 🙂

However, the thing that struck me last night was the number of people recording the show on their phones. It had been a while since I had been to a concert at the House of Blues and the increased use of electronic devices was quite pronounced, a change that was also obvious at the recent Papal elections:

There was one guy near me who spent nearly the entire evening watching the concert through his phone which he held up in the air above his head almost the entire time. Instead of just enjoying the music and the performance, he had to concentrate on his camera work. I  know I’ve done something like this before myself. The first time I went to the Louvre I spend more time behind my camera than actually just enjoying the art. On vacations I’ve been preoccupied thinking about what would make a good picture rather than just enjoying the landscape.

Do we miss out on making memories when we’re busy making computer files? What do we lose when we’re not truly present in the moment? Something to ponder this Tuesday afternoon 🙂