Boston Without a Camera

I'm in Boston right now, and I don't have a camera. I've been surprised by how much this has affected me. For instance, towards the beginning of my day today I was near the bar that appeared in the television show Cheers (the outside of it appeared in the show--the inside of the bar did not). I wasn't sure if I even wanted to bother visiting it since I couldn't take a photo (especially after the tour guide explained that the inside of it "looks like a walk-in closet with a bar stuck in the middle"). Also, early in the day I saw some, uh, interesting architecture that I wanted to photograph and mock later on my blog. The moment seemed somehow dimished by the fact that I couldn't photograph it, which would make my mockery a lot less fun--or maybe would keep me from mocking it at all. In those moments, I found myself a little concerned about the rest of my day. Would I feel like visiting anything? Would I enjoy anything?

It turns out, I did.

By the end of the day, my attitude had shifted quite a lot. I wasn't surprised to find that there were many things I was interested in visiting even though I didn't have a camera. I was however surprised to find that visting things I wanted to visit began to feel quite a lot more indulgent than usual without a camera in tow. When I went to visit something, it was purely so that I could lay my own eyes on it--no other reason--I wasn't going to take a photo of it and show it to someone else later--I was just going to go see it--alone--because I wanted to--with no job to do while I was there other than experience the moment. It was nice. Really nice.

Don't get me wrong though--I fully intend to resume obsessive photo taking as soon as I have a camera again. :)

My hope though is though is that I'll start putting a little more emphasis on just enjoying the moment, and a little less emphasis on recording it.