Do you like baseball? As a kid, I did not enjoy it. It seemed like it was a very boring game and I had no time to watch it unless I wanted to take a nap.
Fast forward to adult life and I started watching Milwaukee Brewers games with my husband and guess what? I found out I do enjoy the games. I’m not sure why except that I like the fact that the games are low stress, if they lose, they can play again the next day and win (or not).
A few years ago, my husband and I had the idea to take a weekend every season and go to Milwaukee to catch a couple of games. It’s a 5-hour drive for us so catching two games is a great way to get our Wisconsin sports fix. One year we even drove back through Green Bay and tried to see the Packers practice, but they were rained out. At least we were able to go to Lambeau and experience the “promised land” of NFL football. #GoPackGo
Anyway, we recently drove to our annual baseball weekend and enjoyed two great games. If you have never attended a professional baseball game, I highly recommend it. It might look boring on TV but during the actual game, they have lots of activities to keep the crowd entertained between innings. Mascot races (which were invented by the Brewers by the way), raffles, fan contests, celebrity appearances and so much more.
In case you aren’t a baseball fan, the Brewers are doing really well this year, as of now, they are at the top of their division and have some really awesome players. So the first game was really fun, the Brew Crew (that’s what we fans call them) came out hitting and were ahead but then let the Nationals come back to tie. We were able to see some great plays including a stolen home base when the opposing first baseman wasn’t paying attention to our guy on third. The slide into the plate was perfection! The game was still tied in the 8th inning and as it happened, the bases were loaded with our guy Christian Yelich up to bat. The crowd was buzzing, this had “Grand Slam” written all over it and as he came to the plate, the crowd stood up. I don’t remember the exact count or how many strikes he had when he hit the ball but wouldn’t you know it-he hits a grand slam to put the Brewers ahead by 4 runs. And as they say….the crowd goes wild! It was amazing to be a part of it and feel the energy. So cool!
I did notice something interesting though. As people were standing in anticipation, they took out their cell phones and held them up with the cameras ready to go. Not every single person, but enough to make me aware of it and realize what they were doing. Also, the guy in front of me was kind of blocking my view of the plate so….
So I’m thinking, all of these people are trying to capture the moment through their camera instead of just enjoying the experience for themselves. Why? I know it’s pretty cool to say you were there for something big and oh by the way, here’s the video/photo to prove it. But do you really need to show it off? Is it better to watch it through the camera lens or phone screen than actually watching it unfold right in front of you? Sure, you can bring it home and show your kids or friends, but they probably already saw it if they follow baseball because it’s all over the sports networks. I suppose it’s also nice to be able to relive it for yourself by watching the video again later. It’s just not the same in my opinion. It’s ok to just be in that moment and enjoy it right then.
I was excited about the anticipation of the possibility of a grand slam and what it would be like, so when it actually happened, I threw my arms up and yelled in celebration! I soaked in the noise and watched as the players celebrated along with the crowd. No, I did not get a photo or a video as it happened, but I enjoyed it and remember the feeling of it. Watching it later on TV brought me right back to it and how it felt to celebrate and that was amazing too.
I recently did a podcast where I talked about my phone addiction-check out the podcast page on this website-and this is another example of that. Instead of enjoying the moment, are we thinking about how we can share it on social media later? I know I catch myself thinking about it when I see something I want to photograph or record. Why do we do that? Because we can? Because we want to get the instant gratification from “likes” and “loves” and “LOL” emojis? Or do we just want to have the memory saved as it happened? I’m not saying either way is right or wrong, but maybe if we all put our phones away more often, we would start interacting with each other more personally. Sharing the experiences WITH each other rather than THROUGH social media would be a great way to start building kindness and communication that we so desperately need right now.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments or send me an email at midlifewithcourage@gmail.com.
Take care of your beautiful selves!
~Kim
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