Does your phone run your life? We should grasp the moment in our minds, not just on the screen

At my girl's horse stable this weekend I was chatting with a 15 year old girl about her horse and although school's out we talked about what high school girls are wearing and why they wear certain bags and logos. The conversation inspired, "Before you flaunt the logo know something about the brand." :) ~IJ - Also we chatted about texting in the classroom and the girl said the teachers don't really... enforce a no cell phone rule anymore because they are texting too. That was annoying to hear. It must be hard to focus on school, that test, college application process, the SAT, having a goal, knowing your assets and skills, sharpening them, when there is a distraction by the teachers phone buzzing along with the chimes of other phones going bing, bing, ring tone jam, etc. WTF. I text every day now, but I remember a world without text messages. Sometimes I will put away my phone just to remind myself, it doesn't run my life and I can have a conversation with someone, look them in the eye and not look at my phone while we're chatting, I can focus and enjoy the experience without my phone constantly, because although this is a fast-pace, mobile-age there is a time and place for it and my phone doesn’t replace the experiences that make up real life.

No-Phone-Challenge: Does everything need 50 photos? We are lucky we have all these digital tools and resources that can capture the moment, every single moment...but can you make a memory without taking a photo of it, without the camera on your phone? Can you be in the moment and take it in with your mind, have the moment kept safe in your memory, without even your camera?  I feel like our memory is not being used enough with all these digital abilities, and being able to remember being somewhere, doing something, when it happened and where could get easily forgotten without the 5000 photos that were taken.  I find that sad. A photo is proof, not our own memory of being there and what it felt like and how it was. We should let our minds and souls take in the memory more often, every detail, the sounds, the way the room was lit, the energy or the calmness felt, the colors, the expressions, things that were said or heard. .

~IJ