I’ve realised something about the way I experience life, and I’m curious whether anyone else relates. Sometimes I struggle to enjoy ordinary moments unless they feel like they’re part of a film. It’s not enough just to go for a walk: my brain starts looking for the right weather, the right light, the right music in my earphones, the right streets or buildings, almost trying to create a scene rather than simply experience it. I’ve also noticed that I often enjoy places, my time with people, walks and evenings much more when I look back on them than I did while I was actually there. In the moment, I’m so focused on whether the experience feels cinematic enough and whether it’s becoming meaningful that I miss the fact that it might already be. I’m starting to wonder whether I’ve been trying to experience life as an atmospheric scene before I’ve allowed it to become a memory; judging whether a moment feels memorable while I’m still living it. I also wonder how much films, social media and carefully curated images of life have shaped my expectations from early childhood. Maybe they’ve made me expect meaningful moments to feel extraordinary as they happen, when in reality many of the most meaningful moments only reveal themselves with time. And sometimes those expectations become so high that they stop me from doing things in the first place, because I’m worried the experience won’t live up to the scene I’ve already created in my head. Does anyone else experience this? Or have you noticed yourself getting caught up in trying to create the feeling of a moment instead of just being in it?