Ngày 2: an experience worth doing

Would you do it even if no one else will be watching?

Pretty house, well-paying job, beautiful partner, extensive travels… Most of us enjoy having these things.

But what we truly enjoy is other people knowing we have these things.

We like being admired.

That’s why people post 10 stories of them going to a concert instead of actually enjoying the music.

That’s why people take 1000 photos when they travel, but start 0 conversation with a local.

Social media has made it very easy for us to document our lives, so we won’t forget what we have done. That’s amazing.

But it has also made it very hard for us to enjoy an experience for the experience itself. Because experience is usually seen only as a means to get views, comments, and reactions. To be recognized and admired.

The next time you pull out your phone in the middle of a conversation to take a selfie or record an Instagram story, ask yourself: Are you recording to memorize, or recording to impress?

A better question for any experience in life might be: Would you do it even if no one else will be watching?

If the answer is yes, that’s an experience worth doing.
—

Picture: these guys have been my best friends for the past 12 years. We probably have fewer than 12 pictures together. One is not even in the picture. They never post anything on Instagram or Facebook.

Everything we do together is worth doing just because we get to do it together. No one to impress.

I told them to take this picture on our trip to Haiphong, to commemorate our friendship, one born purely out of beautiful experience and memory.