Put the camera down, experience life LIVE

My husband and I had the fortunate opportunity this summer to visit Berlin and Paris, one full week in each city. We loved both cities and had a fabulous time. Amazing food, amazing art, amazing history. Almost everything I saw made me happy. Almost.

There were two things that made me unhappy. Actually, they made me beligerent to the point of wanting to yell mean things at random, unsuspecting tourists who should know better but don’t. Thing-that-bugged-me-#1: People so focused on taking pictures they became completely oblivious to the real world surrounding them. Thing-that-bugged-me-#2: People touching works of art.

Let’s get #2 out of the way, shall we? Seriously, do people over the age of 4 actually, really, truly TOUCH ART in musueums? The answer is a big fat YES. I’m not kidding. It happens most often at the Louvre. Yes, the Louvre. That amazing institution with priceless, irreplaceable works of art. I really liked the family of 5 (not one child among them, mind you) who caressed and hugged the ancient Eqyptian sphynx. Or the kids playing around with a Greek statue while Mom looked on lovingly. But my favorite was Scary Cleavage Lady touching every ancient Roman statue dude she could get her hands on. Maybe she should look into speed dating?

Okay, back to #1. Cameras. I actually struggle a bit with this issue myself. In an attempt to document the wonderful things happening, sometimes life itself gets missed. You know, like watching your child’s piano recital through a video camera viewfinder rather than with your own eyes. It’s a tricky balance I’m sure we all think about and deal with, especially in this digital age. I make myself put my camera away sometimes, no matter how badly I want to record something, so I can live in the moment as it happens. I never regret those times.

When we arrived in Paris, I couldn’t help but notice the number of cameras and videocameras glued to people’s faces. Heck, I was one of ‘em. (My photo tally for the Europe trip: 1,358.) And while I took a lot of pictures, I did actually look at the art I visited. Not like some people. I can’t tell you how many people I saw walking around museums with videocameras growing like tumors off the front of their faces, never once actually looking at the art with their own eyes. (I seriously am not exaggerating.)

And that wasn’t the only thing. Every time I saw a flash go off I wanted to jump Indiana Jones-style between the precious work of art and the camera’s flash to save the poor painting from an early demise. Or the people who just have to get their picture taken in front of {insert name of famous painting/grave/church/monument they don’t really care about except that it’s famous}, completely oblivious to the everything and everyone around them. (Okay, I know I sound crazy, but I'm okay with that.)

As a mom, these observations gave me pause. How often am I so focused on the perfect shot with my kids that I miss the moment? Watching a large amount of crazy tourists the last few weeks really put the answer to that question into perspective. Put the camera down. The world is much nicer live and in color. Oh, and DON’T TOUCH THE ART!

Pictured: Camera-crazy crowd around the Mona Lisa. Not quite the intimate experience with the smiling lady you would hope for.

Original Silicon Valley Moms Blog post. Jane Maynard also blogs at This Week for Dinner, where she takes pretty pictures of food and fakes being a good cook.