Last night was a typical night. Everyone was home, we had dinner, then decided to watch Willie Nelson and Keith Urban on the iTunes Festival at SXSW. The concerts were excellent. Willie was in great form (Madeline kept asking, “How OLD is he?”), and Keith was tearing it up. As a guitar player, I love watching good players doing their thing.

Midway through Keith’s set, he moved into the audience to a small stage in the middle of the venue and played a couple of songs. People crowded as close as security would let them get to him, holding up their phones (one person even had an iPad) to record the moment. And then it struck me –

Why are they watching through the screens in their hands when he is right there?

So many of them were trying to capture the moment to share on their various instatweetbook accounts, that they were missing the moment of being close to someone they admired. I’ve done it, too, and creeped out James Taylor (another story).

How many times do we miss moments in our lives because we are trying to preserve them, instead of simply being present in them? Do we really need some proof that special moments, how ever small, often occur? So, my charge to you today is this: Live. Be fully present in each moment. Capture what you can, but not at the expense of participating in your own life.

At the end of the concert, Keith went back to the audience. This time it was the balcony, and he did a song among the dancing crowd. He ended with a wild guitar solo, then took a sharpie from his pocket. He signed the guitar, and presented it to a guy in the row behind him. THAT guy was not recording it on his phone, but he now has a great story to tell. Tell yours.