If I don't exist in the moment.

I often avoid taking pictures of what I see. And why is that? Because it diverts me from absorbing the picture in my soul, in my spirit, in my mind. I'm enjoying the moment too much to want to capturre the scene with my camera. A picture isn't the same as capturing an interior feeling. The emotion of a given moment. For instance, I can walk down a street in Edinburgh and capture the moment forever. Without recording it. I don't need a reminder to bring me back to Edinburgh. Or any place that catches my fancy. I have treasured moments. Filed away. Inside me. Maybe that won't always be the case. If I some day suffer from dementia. Or maybe after I die. There'll be nothing. No memory. Of anything. Merely a void. As if my life never happened. That's why I like to absorb and savor what I have. While I'm still alive and functioning. I suppose that if there's a picture of me, standing in Edinburgh, it's proof that I existed. But that doesn't matter to me. If I don't exist in the moment. Now. --Jim Broede