Enjoy the moment

‘Are you ever actually able to enjoy the moment at all, always on the phone or taking pictures like that?’
‘Excuse me?’
I look up from my phone, to which I had just focused all my attention to edit a pic with vsco. She rolls her eyes, and I can’t help but notice that my ice has almost melted while I tried to move it into the right light. I sigh.
‘Not again….’

Enjoyment – a bit of an issue for me.
On some days I actually feel under pressure to enjoy the moment.
Almost as if I’m expected to be happy, almost as if joy is forced onto me.
It’s not like I’m unhappy, but it seems I lost the ability to enjoy.
Indulging in something means to take a breather to appreciate it.
It’s like the world stops in it’s track for a moment, and with it time.

But you can only experience such moments when you give them space to unfold.
And that’s exactly the problem: time.

How are we supposed to have time for the beautiful, quiet moments, when even our leisure options stress us out?
We want to get as much done as possible in as short a time we can manage.
Our lives are ‘optimized’ through and through. We put ourselves under pressure and want to experience as much as we possibly can, but we lose our ability to take in and appreciate the individual moment.
In our generation, a moment is nothing we can indulge, it is something to share with others on social media.
It’s a vicious circle: we are bombarded with images of beautiful moments, and are constantly battling against the feeling that our own lives are boring.
We live under constant pressure to rack up great experiences, only to have something to share.
But wouldn’t we all be a little happier if we were able to enjoy the moment a bit more, instead of always automatically reaching for our cameras? Wouldn’t we be happier if we tried to preserve the moment in our memory and hearts instead of our phones?

Being a blogger is sometimes as much a curse as it is a blessing. On the one hand I feel free. I am fortunate enough to constantly experience great moments and situations, and I am in a position where I can – hopefully – inspire others. On the other hand I don’t really enjoy these moments. I just can’t do it. Somehow it feels wrong. Almost as if I’m not allowed to keep my experiences to myself. And so I usually end up living my most beautiful moments through a camera, with focus on the image rather than the here and now. It’s a paradox situation, because it’s also true that I’m only experiencing all this so I can share it with you in the first place. Over time, it seems, I have lost my ability to live in and enjoy the present.

Maybe I have to learn it again, and maybe now’s the right time for it.
Maybe I should take more time for the beautiful things in life. Maybe it’s not necessary to always be on the ball with everything, live and direct.
Maybe it starts with the little things, like a chilled breakfast at home. It doesn’t always have to be a big gala dinner.
Maybe the truly beautiful things are hidden in our daily routine, and we don’t notice them.
Maybe we should not put so much pressure on ourselves, and be careful to preserve our ability to enjoy moments of peace and tranquility, even if they don’t make for great photos and Instagram posts.
Maybe this is how we should start the summer.
Maybe I’ll eat my half melted ice cream first. Enjoy it now, post it later.