Called as ''The MOMENT''

Among Thousands of Memories, Thoughts, and Chaos…

Among thousands of accumulated memories, thoughts, and chaos, I think I’ve finally managed to gather my thoughts. Or as Travis once said, “writing to reach you”, because sometimes I simply don’t have the right moment or the right words to express what I want to say. 😄

But really, what is a moment? Or the right time? Does such a thing even exist? Or is it just another excuse we’ve made up? In a world where we consume everything so quickly, there’s no such thing left as the “right” moment or the ability to actually live in it. We can’t escape the feeling of being late to something, because all of us are constantly trying to rush through now for the sake of what’s next. In this so-called modern world filled with endless stimuli, our minds are always anxious about the next step. The next step, being the first to experience, share, or produce something, turns into a stressful race filled with constant planning, disappointment when things don’t go as expected, and a dangerous sense of incompleteness even for what hasn’t yet been lived. We make plans not to create memories but to consume them. We live just to show our smiles, our sorrows, our pleasures. And as a result, we end up in a state of restless, fleeting joys and lost souls. Nothing happens at the “right time,” and we forget the excitement that comes from patience and waiting. Everything must happen exactly when we want it and must be shared instantly!

Now, close your eyes and try to remember the last day you spent with a friend, your family, or by yourself. Yes! Most of us just remembered the photo or video we posted on social media. How did we feel while trying to immortalize that moment? We couldn’t wait to share it, right? Maybe we even thought, “This didn’t turn out well,” and then we staged it over and over again—turning that once-in-a-lifetime magical moment into a manufactured lie just for the camera.

There’s a lot of research being done on this. From addiction studies to terms like mindfulness, people are trying to explain what’s happening. In fact, the awareness we used to naturally have before social media dominated our lives is now being repackaged and sold back to us as mindfulness. “Being in the moment!” Being aware of what we eat, drink, the breeze on our skin, and the people around us! Being able to close our eyes at night and dream! Remembering the joy in someone’s smile, the melting taste of chocolate on our tongue, or the sparkle in a loved one’s eyes as we drift off to sleep. Sleep is supposed to be our only escape from life’s stress and problems—shouldn’t we at least be able to dream of beautiful things there? But what do we do instead? Yes, we fall asleep watching hundreds of nearly identical videos on our phones—or worse, we don’t sleep at all. Then we wonder why we feel so empty.

But the truth is, we already know the reason. We just can’t change it.

We keep saying, “Time passes so fast.” But time isn’t moving fast—we’re just consuming it too quickly. We realize time slows down only when we stay away from our phones. That’s when we say, “Today just wouldn’t end!” Sure, time is relative—it moves fast when we’re happy and with loved ones, and slowly when we’re sad or bored. But the impact of our phones on our perception of time is something else entirely. Unlike those other cases, we completely lose track of time and space with our phones. We can’t tell the difference between a minute and an hour, or even remember whether we ate that ice cream on the couch or while walking down the street. Most of us—especially those who experienced childhood and youth without social media—can vividly recall past memories, what we felt, what music was playing, the emotions of the moment. But ten years from now, hearing a familiar tune won’t bring back a meaningful memory—it’ll just lead to a big blank. Why? Because our brains won’t associate it with anything worth remembering. That song will have been used in hundreds of reels and videos, devoid of personal meaning, consumed like everything else.

Art, culture, literature—even memories—are now being produced just to be consumed on social media. Don’t forget to live in the moment, to savor it, so that maybe, just maybe, when you grow old and close your eyes, you’ll still feel the magic of a day spent looking at the stars, or the childlike excitement bubbling up inside you.

This piece is now ready to get lost on social media like everything else. So, what do you think—shall we let it go too?