Living in the moment is a very difficult ask of ourselves, especially in the digital age.

Now, the urge to document and record our lives is common, when we have tools like phones to capture our memories forever, why wouldn’t we want to use them?

At least 92 percent of South students store and record memories on their phones, according to a non-scientific survey of 321 students conducted by The Oracle. Not only is this a prevalent trend at South, but it also reflects a larger societal shift. For example, Ray-Ban and Meta recently showed off their new Meta glasses—wearable computers that can record everything you do.

But are digital memories the best way to process our real, tangible world? I’m not so sure.

My camera roll is packed with moments I’ve experienced, from outings with friends, to fancy dinners, vacations, and more. But for a couple of years now, I’ve started printing out photos, making scrapbooks, and displaying these experiences around my room. This way, I feel more connected to those moments, eternally encased in a glossy, Walgreens-printed state pinned to a corkboard in my room.

I’m not so sure why I started doing this. Maybe it was a wave of sentimentality that launched my scrapbooking journey or a growing paranoia that I needed to start remembering my childhood more effectively. By having these moments with me and cherishing them in albums and frames, they become all the more dear to me.

Humans are fully capable of remembering what happens in our lives without technology. In fact, using our brains instead of our digital tools is healthier for our memory retainment, according to Binghamton University.

“We often take photos of things we want to remember; however, by photographing something, you are making it less likely that you will remember it later,” Rebecca Lurie, participant of the Binghamton University study, said.

So, if Meta glasses are constantly remembering for us, it will eventually work against us until moments we’ve experienced can only be accessed digitally.

A key note here: the digital world is not reality.

“Backed up” memories don’t truly exist–they’re on some  “cloud” too techy and confusing for most people to understand, including me. Not to mention digital backup is unreliable. Accounts could be hacked, information deleted, and digital media forever lost to the void.

Of course, printing all 3,000 photos from your camera roll isn’t the best choice. I recommend choosing photos from your most memorable moments so they can exist here with you, in the real world. It can be more fulfilling to truly own your memories.

With endless tools to digitize our lives forever, it’s more important than ever to stay grounded and present. So, consider making your favorite memories tangible. Don’t worry about constantly tracking your life digitally; you can already do that in reality, through the memories you make and share with others.