I've been fortunate enough to have done many things that most people only think of doing in their lifetime. I've lived in New York, China, and Ireland for at least a month each, saw 4 Broadway plays, watched Demi Lovato and Paramore in concert for free on Good Morning America, climbed the Great Wall of China, visted the Game of Thrones set, watched a rugby game with VIP seating, "met" James Franco, had Grant from Ghost Hunters come thorugh my line at work, went to a DNCE concert and had Joe Jonas stand only a couple of feet from where I was sitting, went to a Phillip Phillips concert, went to a Ben Rector concert, went to a Panic! at the Disco concert, met Tyler Posey and had a 3-4 minute conversation, and a TON of other things. I'm beyond blessed! But the thing I remember most about each experience wasn't the pictures that I had taken or the autographs I got, it was the experience that I had and the conversations and people I experienced it with. I'm not saying you shouldn't document what you're doing, but when you think back to the things you did in your life, what will you remember more: the picture itself, or what led up to that picture?
I've thought about this ever since I met Tyler Posey last week, which I'm still freaking out about. I didn't get an epic selfie with him, which I wasd bummed about at first, but I started thinking more about he made me feel after that meeting. While talking to Felisha (my roomate if you didn't know), and she reminded me that she could've gone and taken a great photo for me, but then I probably wouldn't have gotten to freak out over us having the same birthday or compared licenses or talked about how we liked each others tattoos and piercings. In that moment, he made me feel like we had known each other for years and was a friend, rather than a crazy fan meeting one of her biggest celebrity crushes/inspirations.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, when I went to see "Of Mice and Men" on Broadway with my friend Emily, I remembered how we had to basically take a quick far away selfie with James Franco and then had him barely sign our Playbills. I had a great time hanging out with Em, and the play was AMAZING, but James being a grade-A jerk left a sour taste in my mouth. To this day, I can't look at him without remembering how the rest of the cast genuinely came out and greeted fans, while he merely had his shades and hat on (at night) and barely gave to looks over the people who were his fans.
There are many other experiences like this, that I could share if you want to hear my stories. But my point is that life is about the experiences you make, instead of capturing those experiences just to look at them forever. Although, I have managed to change at least 2 of my profile pictures and posted the same picture of Tyler and me on the internet more than I should, and I don't regret that. My point is that in this day and age of having the most up-to-date cameras with amazing megapixels, we forget to take a moment to remember what it was like in the moment and take it all in. Think about how you'll remember that experience years from now. For example, if you get engaged, you're gonna remember how the engagement went down way more than the pictures that you had a secret photographer take, which actually may be a cool story from the photographer's point of view. All this is to say: don't take life for granted, and soak in every experience while you can. You may never know if/when you'll get the chance to do it again.
Live for God & Love for Music! <3 =)
- Patience
