The Lost Art of Moment Making

A few days ago Derek Jeter came to a local college to speak to the student athletes and then do a public forum that evening. A friend of mine graciously gave me a pair of tickets. I took my youngest son. We waited over an hour in below freezing temps and it was well worth the wait. I don’t care if you hate the Yankees; you have to respect Jeter. He played for the most demanding owner, in the most demanding city with the most demanding media coverage and he did more than survive—he played a legendary career.

It was very interesting hearing him talk about his family, the final game, retirement plans. There was one thing that stood out to me and I have been thinking about it ever since he said it. Here is what he said:

“Enjoy moments—don’t try to capture them all the time”
– Derek Jeter

I have long been a proponent of social media and blogging, but what he said really got me thinking because I think there is a very real possibility that in our desire to connect we have overreached. Our very real desire for connection has forced us to be, as Sherry Turkle coined it, “Alone Together.” We no longer have anything to talk about or stories to tell because everything we do is on twitter, instagram or facebook. People know what we ate, who we ate it with and how it made us feel before we even walk in the door from a night out with friends. There is very little mystery to us anymore.

I have fallen into the trap that capturing moments on my iPhone is how I can make the moment last, but perhaps I have been wrong. I think Jeter is on to something. In our desire to chronicle our own lives, our lives are passing by. So this [year], don’t take a picture of everything you do as a family—make some memories and then get together with some friends afterwards and tell them about those memories. Enjoy being with the people you are with.