Being present has become a very big challenge for me, especially over the past decade. People are always in a hurry. They are always inattentive to the things happening around them. One of the biggest reasons for this is social media. Before we even learned how to use it culturally, we entered a strange world that we were not yet prepared for. We spend so much of our time on social media, and it constantly tells us that we are not enough for our future. Sometimes we also come across nostalgic videos that throw us back into the past. In other words, today’s tools — I should say, today’s digital tools — are designed to make us miss the past and struggle with an uncertain future. While life is this very moment. The moment we are present in. The moment when we can breathe, see our loved ones, spend time with them, and listen to their stories. We can go outside and socialize with other people. But in cafés and restaurants, even when two people meet for a date, they are constantly taking selfies, photographing their food and their coffee, just so they can quickly share everything on social media. We’ve fallen into a vicious cycle where we constantly want to say, “I’m happy.” The person next to us wants to say, “I’m happy.” We all want to show that we’re happy. But what does happiness actually mean? Happiness means living in the present moment. When we travel, we should enjoy those moments, that sky, that forest, and that sea. We should accept our own imperfections. This world of technology has made us very anxious and worried about our future. The news that comes out, news about wars, and events that may have nothing to do with us and that we have no control over. Or the things we see on social media that make us buy things we don’t need. Things that are completely unnecessary, but just because they become trends, we want to be part of them. We want to show the people around us that we’re up to date. Being up to date is somehow considered a sign of being civilized, when that’s not the case. We’ve forgotten one of the most basic conditions of being human: living in the present moment. Not constantly digging into our past, but accepting it and wanting to make a change in the present. We have access to neither the past nor the future. Both are illusions. We cannot change the past, but if we embrace the present and pay attention to it, we can create changes in our future. These changes don’t come from social media. They are internal changes. Every person needs to pay attention to their inner self. Instead of spending so many hours holding their phone and mindlessly scrolling, they should spend more time looking inward. Listen to good music, spend time in nature, read a book, read poetry, and be fully present when spending time with friends. When you’re with your friends, put your phone away instead of picking it up and scrolling. We’re invited to gatherings, but everyone has their phone in their hands. The quality of our get-togethers has dropped significantly. We now get together with our friends just to take a few pictures and talk about social media. Even during those gatherings, we’re constantly on social media or taking photos and videos. Even at concerts, we pay a lot of money for tickets and go there, but we keep our phones in our hands from beginning to end. We don’t actually experience the concert. An artist is performing for us, we go to see a play, or we want to sit down and watch a movie at the cinema, but our phones have drastically reduced the quality of our lives. I wish we had learned how to use this technology before becoming so immersed in it. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in Iran, the United States, Australia, Indonesia, or any other country. Social media has drastically reduced the quality of your relationships. It doesn’t matter where you are. Wherever you have access to this technology, you can see how the quality of your presence in social gatherings has declined. I’m not against technology, but I believe in building a culture around how we use it. Young children who are constantly on their iPads, or teenagers who are always gaming — when are they going to experience the quality of the relationships around them? Quality is something we build. You have to socialize with people and build meaningful, quality relationships. As a result, many of us are alone when we want to celebrate. And when we’re sad or grieving something, we’re alone again. ⸻ About the Artwork & Creation Process The photograph for this artwork was taken by Nastaran Najafi in northern Iran during the summer of 2026. The figures were painted by Nastaran Taghdimi using the Japanese Sumi-e painting technique. The overall composition was created by Nastaran Najafi, and the GIF animation was generated with AI. Artists: Nastaran Najafi & Nastaran Taghdimi Photography: Nastaran Najafi Painting: Nastaran Taghdimi — Sumi-e technique Composition: Nastaran Najafi GIF Animation: AI-generated Format: GIF Dimensions: 1536 × 1024 pixels