Seeing something on your phone screen is not the same as seeing it with your own eyes.
A couple weeks ago, I went on a vacation to Disneyland with my sisters. Amidst the firework shows, meeting our favorite princesses, seeing countless parades and characters around the park, I realized something. Our generation is so concerned with getting the perfect picture or video for Instagram and Snapchat, we forget to live in the moment.
Disneyland was the perfect place for me to come to this realization. It's filled with such magic and spectacle, no matter what age you are. Every ride gives you a different feeling. Every show you see makes you believe in magic and the power of imagination and love. As they say, it's the happiest place on Earth.
While I stood there and watched my sisters on their phones during the fireworks show, I heard them saying stuff like, "the contrast isn't right," or, "her iPad is blocking my shot, " "I need to take another one with the flash," and, "don't take the same snap as me."
Meanwhile, I was thinking, "Wow, a lot of time must have gone into this. I wish I had an imagination like Walt Disney. I want to impact people the way he has. I wonder if Disney Corporate hires public relations people regularly." And I kept thinking about my boyfriend and wishing he was with me to enjoy the spectacle.
Something as simple as a fireworks show struck me so much that I self-reflected, tried to plan a future, and thought about a loved one. Something tells me that if I was more concerned about my phone capturing a picture worth 100 likes, I wouldn't have thought about any of those that.
More importantly, the show evoked feelings. When you focus so hard on getting the perfect picture or video, you can't really take in everything that's around you. The place you're standing is just the place you're standing, and what's in front of you is just what's in front of you. But, what about the kid next to you smiling ear-to-ear that makes you feel happy, the old couple holding hands who make you feel hopeful, or the countless looks of amazement on peoples' faces that make you feel lucky to be where you are. So many different things create your surroundings, but your phone doesn't capture that.
When I looked at the fireworks with my own eyes, I saw more than just the colors in the sky. When I looked at them through my phone, it was just an image on a screen that looked like everyone else's. That's the entire point of experience – everyone is different.
When you see something live and in the moment, it allows you to interpret it any way you want, use yourimagination, and apply it to your own life in any way you want.
Being able to see things differently than others is a gift. So why are we choosing to see everything the same? This isn't the way it's supposed to be. If you don't believe me, the next time when you look at a sunset, you'll notice it's always far more beautiful than what your phone captures.A smartphone is just a piece of equipment that can never capture the feeling.
