Are our memories really as vivid as we "remember" or is it because we relive moments from our phones?

So often I find myself laying in bed scrolling through my camera roll, reliving memories from prom or fun nights with friends, eventually leading down to my Snapchat memories which is everything. I began to wonder if my memories were really all from what I had seen at the moment or if they are so clear to me because I constantly look back on all the documentation I have from them.

My 86-year-old grandma can remember nearly everything from the past and recalls so many instances of family members' names, ages, birthdays, spouses' names, where they lived, certain events. You name it, she'll be able to tell you. Meanwhile, half the time I can't even remember what I ate for dinner last night. Unless of course there is a picture of it still on my Snapchat or Instagram story.

Now maybe this is just my short-term memory failing me to the extreme or maybe its because my brain became so dependent on my devices to remind me of the important facts in my life as well as others. I was very curious if I was the only one who thought like this, so I asked my friends if they also felt that they use their phones to recall moments than actually living in the moment.

My results were just as I had thought as well. We have become so accustomed to our phones. If we see a celebrity on the street the first thing we do isn't stop and admire and take it in with our eyes. We whip out our phones, immediately capturing it first on your camera, to then later edit on VSCO and then add it to your Instagram story, so other people who are probably minimally relevant to your life can also see what you got to see that day.

That brings me to my next point. Why do we care so incredibly much about what others view on our social media profiles? Why can't seeing a celebrity on the streets be just a story we tell our friends at the next gathering? I bet I would have so much more to talk about with my friends if I left my phone home for a few days, even a week. That would be incredibly challenging because of all the other things we rely on our phone for, such as GPS, credit cards, phone calls, but it would be interesting to see how many fewer pictures I take, how many fewer Instagram stories, and Snapchat memories I have to look back on.

Eventually, Snapchat memories and Instagram stories won't be relevant anymore, as we may not even have those apps on our phones. It'll be interesting for me to see how many things I can actually recall versus relying on the app to tell me about all my fun previous events in life that I was so distracted by to even live it at the moment first.