Reminiscing is to remembering as savoring is to eating.
Many of our meals happen rushed, without thought and without real enjoyment. In fairness, not everyone finds equal satisfaction in their food (I struggle to understand this but it's true). And yet, the perception of what constitutes a gratifying meal varies from person to person. Often, we simply haven’t the time or resources to orchestrate an enjoyable food experience. Even more unfortunately, we often lack the desire or will to make any efforts toward a properly delicious meal.
The same happens with our memories. We catapult through life, constantly in search of the next unique adventure, barely stopping to actually live through our experiences in a way that will allow us to remember. It seems we automatically whip out our devices as a first instinct to document memorable moments, but as our attention drifts we sacrifice actual memories.
We are daily enticed to engage with those same devices instead of dedicating time to reminisce on the images, clips and sounds recorded in our most valuable storage center, our memory.
True, those choosing consumption for consumption’s sake over savory delight may confound us. I argue, however, that neglecting our reminiscence in favor of the moment may be short sighted and naive. Perhaps.