Maybe this is just me imagining things and is being completely wrong. I have just been thinking about this question and especially after watching Home Alone 2 in New York. It may just be that I think it looks more crowded in the movies because it actually is a set filled with people, but also there probably should be some truth to it as you now can do so much online that makes people able to stay inside instead of walk to a location.

I am also wondering if the movies represent the real life rush hour, and probably always shows the "most crowded" times of the day.

Are any of you living of have been living in New York that has seen a difference, or am I just imagining the change?

The screenshot is from this video (1993): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4lDU-QLUY witch I feel is giving me the vibes I am talking about.

☕️bought this place because of the view. Taking it in event day!

The title can be a bit confusing, and it my not be a direct question here, but the question is based on myself being in a place in my life where everything moves very fast, I have lots of things to do, and little time enjoying things that earlier would define my life. I have recently started on a journey trying to make my spare time more "slow", to be more in the moment at actually enjoy doing the small things.

Examples of this can be that I have made my smartphone very dumb, by removing all the apps that makes you doom scroll. This was not hard as I lost interest in Instagram, facebook and other apps about 3 years ago. I just felt like I was "too old" for these kinds of apps and the time they steal from you (I am "only" 33 now).

I have also sold my SteamDeck, and instead bought a old-ish computer running windows 7 and a CRT monitor that I keep in my apartment. I use this to play older games that I know I enjoy, as well as trying out the games I never played as a kid (I only played sports games, but found out I really love everything from Elder Scrolls to Ghost recon and so on). In this way I find it more enjoying to sit down on a Friday night, after me and my girlfriend have eaten the usual Friday dinner and watched some crap movie (because that's default in our lives these days. Watching stuff on streaming and scrolling at the same time) and have a beer by my side playing something or exploring some content online. ON A CRT MONITOR. I know I sound like a tool trying very hard for nostalgia, but I cant' feel anything other than that its working.

I am also considering other things to "dumb" down my life for the sake of getting some kind of "peace" with the things I do. For example buying physical news papers to have a "quiet" moment reading, instead of sitting on my phone doing four things at the same time.

Has anyone else felt this way about not being in the moment when doing things?