Recording the Moment?

Roger Waters - vocalist with Pink Floyd was interviewed recently and made the observation that people used to go to concerts to immerse themselves in the music produced by players on the stage - a variant of being in the moment, perhaps getting lost in music and even fantasy. Waters noted that now many people spend the evening recording the event on mobile phone - perhaps to text , share and upload with as much speed as possible. I wondered why we seem obsessed with recording events now. It would seem we compromise our experience, being so focussed on the technology capturing images, the physicality of endless checking that we are recording and the holding of the device to capture the best image.

My mind thought of death. Is recording everything a way of avoiding impermanence? If we record everything it means it exists and will always exist. Therefore perhaps we create the feeling that we exist and are permanent.

Yet much wisdom suggests that we become unhappy if we are over attached. Can we love as we love the sunrise - knowing that it will set later and that our best vantage point is to let it come and then go. Many people will have delighted in recording events over the Jubilee weekend but maybe we could consider immersing ourselves more in the moment rather than recording.

Counselling and therapy is often at its most powerful living the moment in the room with counsellor and can help us get back on track.