Life Through A Lens

I was recently visiting the majestic Niagara Falls. I was on the Hornblower cruise boat, wearing my bright red plastic poncho that was to protect me from the cold gushing waters from the falls. 

It was an exhilarating experience, as I clutched tightly on to the hand rail of the boat especially when we got closer to the Horseshoe Falls' mouth. The water pressure was intense with 700K gallons of water rushing per second.

I was getting ready to pull out my camera and at one point I even managed to take a picture. I saw so many people trying to take a video of the natural wonder.

I was competing for the lens versus fully experiencing the views. 

In the end, the views won. I wanted to take it all in unperturbed by a lens.

I am reminded of a scene from the movie, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". Sean Penn is a photographer for LIFE magazine and he waits his whole life to take a picture of the rare snow white leopard. After a lot of years of waiting, he finally gets a chance to see the rare creature. Instead of taking a picture, he decides to soak it all in and feel the presence of the beautiful animal. He didn't want the camera's lens to get in his way.

I've been that person who spent so much time taking the perfect picture, especially now that we have our smartphones with tons of apps.

I've since begun to appreciate just living in the moment without having to worry about capturing it.

The memory of the falls holds more special meaning for me than any picture ever will.

"Beautiful things don't ask for attention"