Day 3: I'm exhausted

It’s day three and I’m already exhausted.

The socials feel like they’re working double-time with courses we all must buy and protocols we all must follow. If you’re informed by content creators (and we all are), you know that no one is doing it right in 2026. Being okay is complacency and complacency is gross. We’re all just one $39 solution away from whatever lures us (fame, beauty, health, business, fortune, travel, investments, politics, a new hustle, etc).

The algorithm knows.

The algorithm is like a mirror to the soul. Want a resolution? (I know, we’re calling them “intentions” now) Challenging your algorithm is probably a good starting point.

I am personally so tired of consuming, mainly online content, but honestly everything. I also admit that I’m recklessly drawn to consumption, like it's a piece of leftover birthday cake. It’s not even that good, I just want it.

What I really need (and believe most of us need), is existence outside of our phones/devices. Good old-fashioned time in nature and time with people.

I want to live in real life and connect with real people. To grab coffee and talk until the conversation winds down. To find out what makes someone’s heart sing, hear about what they’re looking forward to, and maybe even learn about someone they miss.

I want to slow time, not look for ways to pass it. Which is exactly what we’re doing when we enter the digital world.

This is one of the things I love most about photography; we get to share a moment in time and space with people. We’re seeing smiles, hearing giggles, watching families interact. Hugs, squeezes, breathing, being. Not a phone in sight. And we have the most magical gift of all, to capture and freeze these sweet, real memories.

The more the digitized world and AI is forced on me, the more I cling to reality.

I don’t think we need another course or product; I think we need less time online and more time with people.

A real moment in 2015. My friend Meg was photographing our family at Sebago Lake. One of the kids snapped a picture of her photographing us. In the lower right corner our oldest son looks on. I loved this evening with my family and I have tons of pictures and memories from this shoot - all of which bring me joy.