Cellphone cameras make it so easy to capture and share every moment of our lives. But research shows we create better memories by putting down our phones and being present. Will you join me in choosing memories over photos?
Welcome to the 123rd edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a simple living challenge for the week. In addition to choosing memories over photos, this week’s edition looks at non-linear aging, protein requirements for older women, and the origins of the word boycott.
On my mind this week: Choosing memories over photos
I’m a big fan of Canadian author Neil Pasricha. If you don’t know Neil, he gave us The Book of Awesome and several other “awesome” books. (Learn more about how Neil inspired my quest to read 1,000 books in this post.)
In a recent blog post, Neil called on all of us to put down our phones and pause. His post was inspired by a poster in the bathroom cubicle of a Toronto restaurant. The poster features a piece called L II FE On Pause by Sherry Turkle.
Turkle’s piece is about the ways we put moments on pause to check our devices—to take a selfie, to read a text, to check our social media…
When you get accustomed to a life of stops and starts, you get less accustomed to reflecting on where you are and what you are thinking.
Sherry Turkle
Pasricha’s post came just a few days after I’d read a piece on No Sidebar—another of my favourite intentional living sites.
Choosing moments and memories over photos
In How to Make More Memories by Taking Fewer Photos, Karen Trefzger discusses how constant photo taking can mess with our memories. She cites a 2018 study from Dartmouth University that found the act of taking pictures reduced participants’ memories of what they experienced.
While we’re busy taking dozens of photos, we’re failing to listen, smell, touch, or taste the new place we’re visiting or the wonderful event that’s happening.
Karen Trefziger
I love to take pictures. In the days before smartphones, I took my camera on every trip and to every gathering. I was the one who captured all the moments of our lives, and I have everything carefully documented in photo albums and scrapbooks.
I don’t regret taking the time to capture those moments. My daughters love to look at their scrapbooks and seeing old photos always makes me smile. But, I took most of my pictures before the smartphone era when taking and developing pictures actually took some effort. Now it’s just too easy.
These days, I’ll often get to the end of an evening and realize I haven’t taken a single picture. Despite the fact that I always have my phone with me and it would be so easy to capture every moment, I’m taking fewer pictures than ever.
Why is that? Am I just getting forgetful? Or am I subconsciously choosing to enjoy the moments? In all honestly, it’s probably a combination of the two. I still love looking at old photos, but I’ve realized that one photo is just as good as one hundred.
Perhaps we all need to take the advice of Pasricha, Turkle and Trefziger. Let’s pause, put down our phones, and shift our focus to choosing memories over photos.
And while we’re at it, let’s turn off non-critical notifications and be truly present in our moments.
Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.
Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- This is my sister Angela’s last week before she goes back to England so we’ve spent lots of family time. On Monday, I picked up mum and Angela and we went to the microforest where we had planted a tree in memory of Angela’s late husband. The oak tree has grown a couple of feet since I last saw it in May. Then, my mum and sister came here for lunch. On Thursday, we all gathered for dinner at mum’s place.
- The neighbourhood bunnies were active on Tuesday evening. Between the 3 playing in our yard, and our evening walk, we saw 9 rabbits!
- Colleen arrived home safely from PEI on Friday night. It’s always good to have her home.
Things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Aging isn’t linear
We often think of aging as a gradual linear process but new research from Stanford Medicine reveals two “cliff” points where molecular changes rapidly accelerate the aging process before it then levels off. That happens in our mid-40s and early 60s. I turned 60 last year. This explains a lot of things.
(Source: Stanford Medicine)
Protein requirements for older women
At our girls’ lunch on Friday, we were talking about protein requirements as we age. When I came home, I saw two articles about the importance of protein in preventing muscle loss for older women. In general, menopausal women need at least 100 grams of protein every day to avoid muscle loss. Considering an egg has an average of 6 grams of protein and an average chicken breast has 56 grams, I suspect most of us aren’t getting enough protein in our diets.
Boycott was a person
Here in Canada, we’ve been hearing the word boycott a lot in recent months, as we focus on buying Canadian in response to threats from our no-longer-friendly neighbour to the south (and that’s neighbours with a “u” by the way).
I was surprised to learn this week the origins of the word boycott. It was first used in Ireland in the 19th century to punish landlord Charles Boycott, who had abused his tenants and evicted people from their lands.
(Source: Charlie Angus on Substack)
This week’s simple living challenge – Prioritize sleep
Simplifying life is a big part of living more intentionally. With that in mind, I kicked off the year with 52 ways to simplify your life this year, including a downloadable checklist of weekly tasks.
This week’s challenge is to make sleep a priority in our busy lives. As a “short sleeper”, this is a problem area for me but I’ve been working on it.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
Discover more from Boomer Eco Crusader
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Totally agree with that research. I don’t take that many pictures because I’d rather enjoy the moment and save the memory. Pictures are nice, but savoring the moment is better.
For my age and weight, I need about 126 grams. I’m definitely not hitting that target, so I need to catch up.
Yes to enjoying the moment, Edward!
I’ve been tracking my protein intake and I’m not even consistently getting to 50 grams a day. I need to figure out how to close that gap.
Interesting enough, after I read your post, I did a little experiment with ChatGPT. I asked it to create a one-day meal plan to help me reach my goal and provided the ingredients I currently have. It suggested some recipes and even included snacks for between meals. I’m going to keep playing with it and see how it goes.
Now that’s a good use of AI.
Geez, Charles doesn’t sound like a guy worth having anything named after him. Even if it is in protest. How interesting about the aging and protein. 100grams is a lot! Hope you have a great week!
Haha. It seems Mr. Boycott was a bit of a tyrant. There’s nothing like a strong Irish resistance. 😂
And I have been tracking my protein intake and I am well short of 100g. I will have to look into protein powders for my breakfast smoothies.
Hi Michelle, I gave up on taking photos and chose to enjoy the adventures, big or small without pictures. I do take the occasional shot but they are few and far between.
Hi June, I often get to the end of an evening and realize I haven’t taken a single photo. I tell myself it’s because I was enjoying the experience. I do take more pics when I travel, though.
Thank you for your post. I love and follow Charlie Angus’ blogs wherever I can. He tells it like it is and was the first one to suggest a boycott. I also learned the origins of boycott. Thank you!
Yes, Charlie is terrific. I always learn something from his posts.
I understand Pasricha’s philosophy about being present and making memories. I feel somewhat offended by people who constantly pull out their phones to look at them when we’re together. I don’t say it aloud, but I’m thinking, “What, am I not interesting enough?” Certainly, they might be waiting for some important news, but a simple explanation would make me understand. Otherwise, it’s just rude.
On the other hand, I appreciate many aspects of modern technology. Pictures help me remember past events. I can’t always trust my memory anymore. 😊
It is hard not to be offended, isn’t it? It makes me especially sad when I see parents of small children more interested in their phones than their kids.
Don’t get me wrong. I do love photos and the memories they inspire. I think the key is to quickly capture the moment and then take time to enjoy the experience. It’s all about balance.
Ohhh….the trap of becoming accustomed to the stops and starts…interrupting the flow of experiences with our technology. Such irony – missing moments in order to (we think) capture moments. So good, Michelle. Thank you! 🥰
The research on photo taking and memories is fascinating, isn’t it? But it really makes sense when you think about it.
When I go to concerts now, I’m always amazed at all the picture- and video-taking going on. It’s one thing to snap a photo or two, but some people seem to be filming the entire show. Put down the phone and enjoy the music! 😎🎶🤘
With you!!! You need to take it all in! Music is like medicine…we need to feel it in our bones! 😎🥰😎
So much to like in this blog post, Michelle! I did not know that there was a Charles Boycott… and I did not know that there are at least two aging “cliff points” — one of which I am now in. Good inspiration to keep up my long walks and occasional swims! Thanks for sharing so much of what you learn with the rest of us.
Thanks Will! Yes, the aging cliff points are fascinating and something I’d like to dive into a little deeper to learn more. I shared that information with a couple my high school girlfriends when we met for lunch on Friday and we all agreed that we had noticed more changes since turning 60. Staying active is definitely one of the keys to staying young so good for you!