It was exciting and emotional and more than I could have wished for. I never was the kind of person to obsess over celebrities and their lives and wish I could be like them one day, mostly because through my eyes most of their lives include a whole lot of money and a whole lot of sadness. But his music this past year helped me through one of the toughest times in my life. And I know what a "cliche uber fan of a musician" thing to say. Trust me I get it becuase I always thought "are you being serious , it changed your life?? its just a song about having no new friends I doubt that changed your life" but for the first time ever I felt that. I had that moment. I listened to his album on repeat, his old songs his new ones, all of them. And it made me actually think and feel something. For me this is rare because I gotta be honest I'm kinda an odd teen because I don't see the joy in posting my whole life on instagram or get some sorta high off of getting more followers. I see real issues and strive to change them and yeah I know, right now it sounds like I'm bragging about being more socially aware than most, but in reality it sucks. It really f***ing sucks. I can't even hang out with 90% of my high school population because they really don't want to have 3 hour long conversations about life and the social issues of our era like me, they mostly want to get drunk and party, which I got to say from birds eye view looks like fun, but when you are in it I can't help but think how many of these people are doing this to numb the pain and how many are just plain stupid and can't enjoy life any other way.
Now enough of the deep talk because my point is to say that while I was front row (sort of) in his presence, all around me were people putting these moments on instagram, or on their snapchat story. And I get it you want to remember it forever, but how can you remember a great moment like this when you were only half way present? How can you look at a video and picture and feel that emotion and happiness when you never felt it in the first place because you were too busy trying to get a close up picture of this 'glorious celebrity' (sarcasm intended)
As soon as J. Cole stepped out on stage, I lost it of course I mean he's amazing but not once did I take my phone out for a picture or video, and I know you are wondering why and don't I regret it. And the answer is for one I forgot for a moment but then realize if I am so busy and focussed on trying to capture this moment forever, then I never really lived in it. Its funny that today at almost any concert you go to, you are surrounded by cellphones in the air everywhere you turn. It really makes you think how many times in life have been a victim to this social media high. How many times have you really lived in the moment lately? Whatever that number is try an make it a personal goal to double it or even triple it because in the end when you are 45 and telling your kids about this amazing experience and performance J. Cole put on and how you lost the videos so you can't really say how good it was, its gonna hurt. And if you can't enjoy a concert without trying to unintentionally (or intentionally) show off on social media, then what else are you missing out on. Your kids birthday? You wedding? Whatever it is just stop and realize that whether these great moments in life are captured on camera or not, that moment still happened and how you felt still happened no matter how many people know about it it still matters and still counts. I think in our generation we are all sucked into the cloud of social media marijuana and want to feel that high when someone retweets or likes or follows. And next time you see those cute pictures of "relationship goals" and all that other bullsh*t really stop and realize if those are the goals you want to strive for, because lets be real that whole picture was staged and they probably took 100 of them and edited them and had someone take it so they look just perfect for the gram. Right?
Maybe I'm wrong and my values in life are outdated, whatever it is just try it out and see. Try to not become a victim of social media highs, and stop and enjoy your moment. Because recently I've realized that your next great moment is not promised. Stop making it a priority to capture life's greatest moments, and make enjoying them your number one mission in life. Because from my experience it brings on a lot more happiness.
-emily elizabeth
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