Emily is...

There is always one girl at a party who spends her time taking pictures rather than talking to anyone. She demands photos with people that she never hangs out with so she can look 'popular', she takes pictures of people she doesn't even know and she captures moments that, in the morning, will mean nothing to her because she wasn't really paying attention to what was going on.

I must admit. I used to be that girl.

Not just necessarily at parties but at concerts and special events...I'd spend all my time trying to get that perfect shot instead of enjoying the experience. The really funny thing is that I was totally aware that I was doing it and I would always regret it later on. "Why did I take so many pictures?" "Did they sing (insert song title here)? I don't remember that?!"

This may seem like an odd digression but it was inspired by a quote that I found in a magazine the other day...

"...publicizing real time emotions makes you like that chick at a party who can't stop snapping photos. You're so busy documenting the present for other people or so you can reflect on it later so that you don't even register your own emotions. And you end up feeling numb or scattered instead."

The writer was talking about the danger of constantly updating your Facebook and Twitter status. Instead of experiencing feeling 'sad' you write on FB that you're sad and wait for people to ask you why or offer their sympathy. Instead of being present in a moment you document the moment so that everyone knows exactly what you're doing. i.e. Emily is...getting her car washed, making lunch, getting ready for work, going to the bathroom, plucking her eyebrows and putting on her shoes. The statements get more and more specific and more and more absurd and consequently, less and less interesting. It's like technological voyeurism.

Now, I am guilty of doing this (hell, even writing this blog could be considered technological voyeurism) however, I would like to take this moment to defend the chronic FB updater...some of us are not looking for attention or sympathy or interest or whatever...some of us are just bored, some of us really want to share thoughts, opinions and start real discussions.

However, as I said before, I am conscious of the fact that I am like that girl at the party, taking all the pictures, documenting the event so that others can see it or I can reflect on it later...and I'm not proud of it. I would love to live in the moment all the time. I would love to not be bound by technology and my need to share every tiny event that happens in my day. I would love to just have memories instead of fuzzy pictures of a band that I may or may not still like 2 months from now. I would love that...but I'm not sure how to go about it.

So, instead, I'll indulge in another venue of over-exposure and just update my blog instead.

Later kids!