Our Obsession Over Memories

What is it about our culture’s obsession with memories? The creation of, storage of, and sharing of memories seems to be a timeless need. But when does the process of creating and storing the perfect memory/moment become greater than the memory itself? In other words, when does the posing for the camera in front of a tourist attraction become more important than enjoying the attraction itself? Do we rely on material memories like pictures or videos more than we used to because our memory/mental bandwidth is overloaded with other things?

Other than a group of people laughing together, which is one of the highest forms of social bonding, I would posit that next on the list is the joint recollection of memories. Sentences that start off “Remember when…” usually result in everyone involved re-living a shared experience, and shared experiences are the key to enduring relationships. And enduring relationships are at the core of innate human desire.

So, for my entrepreneur friends out there, think about our culture’s obsession over memories, and in this age of stimuli overload, think about how we can help the rest of the world create, store, and share memories.
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A confluence of observations/thoughts prompted this post:

• Cameras in cell phones have made the taking pictures omnipresent.
• I recently heard an entrepreneur pitch a group of angels on a wedding photography business and he concluded by saying: “A bride’s parents will pay top dollar for reliable wedding photos, because after all, in the end all you have are the photographs.”
• The song “Graduation” by Vitamin C on my iPod during my workout today whose lyrics is all about remembering the high school days.