Every day, billions of photos are taken worldwide. These can capture our most beautiful moments on Earth. However, some aspects of life can’t be captured in just a picture, and maybe they shouldn’t be.

The other day, I was out boating on Lake Erie with some of my family, including my uncle. It was really fun and we had a great time. While we were out there, I could see the shoreline all around, from Cleveland to Perry. And, even better, there was a beautiful sunset in the sky. It was a perfect opportunity for a shot! Of course, I reached for my phone in my pocket, and then, I remembered that I hadn’t brought it on the boat so that it wouldn’t get wet.

I was quite disappointed.

That’s when my uncle told me something that sparked my interest. He explained to me that I could learn a lesson from that. Perhaps not every moment needs to be documented within the archives of my photo library.

That made me think. Usually, like most people, I grab for any chance I can get to take a picture of what’s going on. I want to remember it all, and a picture’s a perfect way to do that, right? Well, maybe not. Even if it might seem like it sometimes, you’re not always going to have your phone or a camera or whatnot on you.

So, how should you remember things if not with the screen?

Your brain.

Yes, even though it might seem obvious, it’s true! When you take a picture, you can recall more of what you saw with your eyes. But you don’t get the rest of the other picture! What conversations you had, what you tasted, smelled, and touched, how you felt, where you walked, and everything else, is lost. For now, you can’t quite get it down with a picture. It’s just not the same as the real deal.

And, trying to shoot and edit the perfect photo can be a burden on the actual occasion, too. Having to take however much time on the pictures is a big distraction from what’s really going on.

What makes that a lot worse is posting it all to social media. Curating and optimizing your images for the internet, depending on how much effort you spend on it, makes the whole ordeal even more time-consuming. When you’re too busy focused on how pictures look when they’re shared, the joy is taken out of the real experience. If you’re spending all of your time on shooting and posting, you might become less immersed in the moment and more anxious about presenting yourself highly or taking the perfect picture! Exaggerating the event and trying to seem like you’re having the best life of everyone else can hurt the actual memories you have.

This isn’t all “guaranteed” to happen, though. It’s totally possible you can take pictures, and even upload them on many platforms, and still have the time of your life. And, I’m not saying you have to totally toss your phones out and never take any pictures of anything again. Photos are totally fine, I don’t want to ditch them caveman style.

However, this can be something to think about the next time you grab for your camera on instinct. Additionally, there are other alternatives to photographing that might be a better choice to capture memories, such as journaling or collecting souvenirs. So, maybe take a breath and reconsider before recording.