Situations mean different things depending on the age of the people involved, and as you grow older these situations change. An example of this for me is a power outage. I’m from the Midwest, which means summer storms are a normal occurrence. I also live in an area that tends to loose power quite a bit.

When I was young the power going out meant: no air conditioning, absolutely no opening any doors to the outside or the fridge, eating out and my older siblings playing with me. My siblings are a few years older than me, so when I was a kid it was rare that they would play games with me. But when the power went out, my family would light a ton of candles, grab as many board games and card decks as our hands would carry and set up game by game. We would have Clue games that stretch into days, and the most complex games of solitaire and gold fish, that we had ever seen. We forgot about our troubles, and the reality that stood outside the four walls of our house and just enjoyed each other’s company.

As I grew older, power outages still meant no air conditioning (which became more annoying with each year), instead of eating out, it became eat whatever is in the house, and sometimes even meant doing my homework by (fake) candles and flashlights. But one thing remained constant: putting away the technology and spending time with my family. Some of my best memories come from sitting by flashlights, learning random card tricks or new card games. They come from Clue games that stretch past days, and Monopoly games that ended in arguments because one person owned so much. These moments still occurred even as I grew--for example our power went out last week--so we taught my sister how to play gin rummy, and we enjoyed the time we had together.

The next time your power goes out, I encourage everyone to put your phones away, and create a world of board games and laughter. Spend time with your family, or friends. Embrace the fact that you can not connect to the Internet and instead spend time connecting with people. Power outages remind me of the importance of people, the importance of putting down our technology and enjoying the moment. They remind me the importance of living in the moment and making each of these moments count.