Let's Make Some Memories!

A running joke in the Reini household is that if you're trapped into doing some mind-numbingly boring thing, look on the bright side: at least it will give you something to blog about.

Stuck at the funeral-like office birthday party? Blog about it later!

Bagging groceries for hour after hour, day after day? Save up your stories for that killer post!

Blogging has even become a justification for willing participation in similarly craptastic activities.

In other words, now certain masochistic bloggers - myself included - don't merely suffer through chick flicks, we gleefully pop them into our DVD players, salivating at the chance to blog about their apparent crappiness. (This applies to other bad movies as well.)

And I don't really have a problem with this. If we wish to gleefully torment ourselves for the sake of our blogs, more power to us. After all, we're not really hurting anything but our own rapidly degenerating brain cells.

But what happens when we apply that same principle to things we would normally enjoy outright?

For instance, I recently blogged about my first live Timberwolves game. I had a blast. I even got to have a brief chat with one of my favorite players.

But as I stood there above the tunnel, watching the Maddog shuffle in my direction, I had one thought and one thought alone - this is going to make a great post.

And you know what? The meeting did, in fact, provide some pretty good material. But as I was standing there, waiting in the moment, should the blog have been foremost on my mind? Should great post-material be the subtext behind every fun, exciting moment? What if I had been thinking the same thing while standing at the altar at my wedding?

And furthermore, did thinking about the blog while waiting for the Maddog ultimately influence our conversation? In all honesty, it might have.

And that's where it all gets a little weird. Moments like that should first be enjoyed for what they are, and then later reflected upon - not consciously manipulated to provide good blog material.

But the weirdest thing of all is that I think this sort of practice applies beyond blogs - I know it was something I did long before I even knew what a "blog" was.

How often, for instance, have you heard someone say, "Let's make some memories!"? Ok, probably never. But I know you've thought it. We all have.

And wanting to make memories is fine - it's good and beneficial to remember and reflect and appreciate and learn.

But, again, what happens when we manipulate events strictly for the purpose of "creating" a memory?

The first time I kissed the young woman who became my wife, I had entertained the idea all evening. But I didn't act on it - at least not until I heard a song in the background that I knew I would remember. After all, I knew the moment was going to make an important memory, and so what better way to remember it forever and ever than to "tag" it with a song?

Silly? Of course.

But what does it mean? Was I manipulating life, or is such manipulation a natural part of life?

And, most importantly, what does the wise man have to say about the issue?