The Beginning

The Dilemma:

In a digitally-logged society - children today are growing up as never before.  

The moments that are captured on film, either video or camera, are becoming more and more.

Its understandable - with so much access to technology, and cameras built into phones, the opportunity to capture your little one's precious moments is only on the rise.

I am just as guilty as any other parent today of pulling out the camera (or phone) and snapping picture after picture to capture all of these wonderful moments my son is having.

The Idea:

A few months back, something sparked within me and I wondered what life might be like if I didn't reach for the camera every time he did something cute, funny, stupid, laughable or otherwise picture worthy in my head.

I began to think about the culture of pictures today and how it has changed as our access to technology has flourished.  Today we have so many more pictures of our children than ever before, and it got me wondering what I might be missing.

If every time my son does something I find picture-worthy, I reach for my camera/phone to capture the moment, how many moments am I missing?  Not only in the time it takes to find the camera, but also in hiding behind the lens, in coaching my little boy to repeat whatever mannerism I wanted to catch for the simply act of having a lasting record of it.

I'm not saying that all pictures are bad.  Having some memento of his childhood years, especially these years he won't remember, will be valuable to him someday.  But where is the line between the pictures that are valuable to him, and the social-media driven need of mine to capture EVERY moment?

While I have been thinking about this idea for months – what sparked my decision to start this project was my adventure yesterday with my son.  He is two years old.  I took him on his first hike in the woods – and being that it was his first – of course I took out my phone from time to time to snap lasting memories of those moments.

After about 5 pictures – he was done.  He would swat at the phone and tell me no more.  He is two.  But I wanted to capture the moment – so I persisted.  And so did he. He continued to refuse my requests for pictures – as he usually does when we are having fun.  It wasn’t until the end of our hike that I realized what I was doing.

Here was my young son, trying to enjoy the woods with me, and I was introducing technology into the picture.  Me, a self-proclaimed environmentalist who is firmly of the belief that children get too much exposure to technology, and not enough time outside just being kids today.  I was forcing this technology upon my son, who just wanted to be outside and explore with me.

What really drove the point home was near the end of the walk.  My little two year old boy found an interesting dead tree.  He examined it, and pointed to it and said something.  I asked him to repeat himself – confused by what he had said.  He said it again – ‘cheese’.  After thinking for a moment I realized that he was asking me to take his picture with the dead tree.  In a short 1 hour walk – I had influenced my son so much with my own actions, that he now thought that whenever he found something interesting it required a picture.

What have I done?

Social Media Influence:

I am just as guilty as any other parent of not only capturing every moment on film, but then sharing it on social media.  As if the rest of the world would suffer if they were not exposed to the adorable life my toddler leads.

In thinking about it, I have come to realize - that overall - no one cares.  Of course I think my son is the cutest, most adorable living, breathing creature on Earth.  Of course my family likes to know what we are up to, from time to time – but not every day.  Even my family and close friends, who may actually be interested in these pictures, have lives of their own that DON’T revolve around my son, and in a sense I am only adding to the over-whelming social media addiction by providing them.

But where does my need to prove this to the rest of the world, who really doesn't care, come from?

Our social media driven society provides verification to me when I post these photos online.  By 'liking' a photo I have posted, it subconsciously tells me that people care.  It tells me that I have made someone smile by posting yet another picture of my adorable child.  

However, if I hadn't posted this picture, or even taken this picture - would it in any way effect the lives of those same people?  No.  

Conclusion:

So the conclusion I have come to - is that through my own self-driven need to gain verification of my son's life through social media - I have been driven to hide behind my camera at every chance, I have coached my son to repeat actions, not for his own good, but for my ability to capture the moment, and I have missed spending those precious moments with him.

So my journey to change begins.

This blog is about those moments when my brain tells me to reach for the camera, and my struggle to reject that idea, and instead relish in the moment with my son.  

This is my journey to spend more time interacting with my boy, and less time capturing his life for the rest of the world to see.

My Goal:

The goal is simple.  

Enjoy the moments as they happen, and let them be as they are.  

Resist the urge to capture every 'picture-worthy' moment on camera.

Redefine what moments are actually 'picture-worthy'.

Reflect on those moments I successfully resisted documenting through film - and instead compose 1000 words to capture the moment on this blog.  

They say a picture is worth 1000 words - here is my effort to uphold this old saying.  How much more can I enjoy my journey of raising my son by experiencing these moments, and reflecting on them later, instead of documenting them to be stored in a file on a computer for years to come.

In writing this first post – I’ve come to realize how big 1000 words actually is.  I think I have taken on a real challenge here – challenging myself to dig deeper into a precious moment with my son – instead of allowing a picture to tell the story for me. 

~Mom of Moments