The biggest thought that has been lingering on my mind these days is: why did documenting everything in life become so important?
Right from the minute we wake up to the time we are tucked into bed—from our homes and home appliances to our lifestyles—everything seems to be documented.
And with so much information being created and shared every single day, I sometimes wonder: is the value of information declining while the value of reliability is increasing? Maybe having access to information is no longer the difficult part. Maybe knowing what—and whom—to trust is becoming more valuable.
As I observe, some do it as a full-time job, some as a side hustle, some to increase their visibility and brand value, and some to stay connected with their followers. Some document their traumas, while some share only the highlights of their lives.
But then again, what if documentation isn’t always about being seen? What if sometimes it is simply about remembering?
Maybe that random photograph of an ordinary breakfast, a room, a street, or a person doesn’t seem significant today, but years later, it might mean everything to someone.
Now, with everything becoming digitalised, the internet becoming so accessible, and the influx of new devices—with physical books increasingly sharing space with e-reading platforms and digital libraries—sometimes, looking at all of this, I wonder if our preference for human connection is decreasing.
Are we beginning to prefer talking to screens, or through screens?
When I was an adolescent, all I knew was that people considered only certain aspects of their lives significant enough to be documented—things related to their work, important moments, or anything to do with complying with rules and regulations.
Today, sometimes I feel people are documenting things just for the sake of doing it, and not because they truly want to share something valuable. And with so much information around us, it is also becoming increasingly confusing to decide what is accurate and what isn’t.
I was reluctant to fall into this.
I think I still am.
But then the FOMO kicks in—what if I am missing out on something?
And with 100 different options available, I’m always confused about which one I should choose. Sometimes I become like a kid in a candy store, lol. 😂
I still don’t have the right answer to why documenting everything in life has become so important to everyone.
And then there is another part of all this that fascinates me: we don’t just document life anymore. We measure it.
There is now a scale and metric for almost everything.
Our sleep hours.
Our heartbeat.
Our step count.
Our calorie intake.
Our screen time.
The number of books we read.
The number of followers we have.
The number of people who liked, viewed, shared or reacted to something we posted.
And then come the anxiety levels after looking at all those numbers when they aren’t in our favour. 😂
Sometimes I wonder—when did numbers stop simply describing our lives and start telling us how to feel about them?
You could wake up feeling perfectly rested, only for your watch to tell you that apparently... you weren’t. 😂
Sometimes, every person’s life I see feels more like a dashboard than a LIFE!!
But maybe documenting itself was never the problem.
People have always documented their lives. Diaries, letters, photo albums, postcards, home videos, scrapbooks—none of this is really new.
Maybe what changed is how easily we can document, how frequently we do it, who we document it for, and how many people can see it.
A diary could have an audience of one.
A family photo album could have an audience of twenty.
Today, an ordinary Tuesday morning can have an audience of twenty thousand.
And somewhere along the way, documenting also became rewarding. Attention can become followers, followers can become visibility, visibility can become influence, and influence can even become income.
So maybe the question isn’t whether documenting life is good or bad.
Maybe it is about why we are documenting it in the first place.
To remember?
To share?
To connect?
To be seen?
To create?
To make money?
Or simply because everyone else seems to be doing it?
And the funny thing is, here I am questioning why everyone feels the need to document everything...
while documenting my thoughts about documenting everything. 😂
So, should I just make peace with it, thinking to each their own?
Or should I start documenting too?
Maybe I don’t want to document everything.
Maybe I just want to document the things that make me stop, notice, feel, or think.
I still don’t have the right answer.
And maybe I don’t need one yet.
Happy World Photography Day!! 📸
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