For the last three years, I’ve been taking at least one photo every day. In 2008, it was a photo a day of my older son David. In 2009, it was my then newborn son Nathaniel. This year, it’s both of them. It’s flowers. It’s a special lunch we have or a special trip we took or some present or anything that’s part of our ordinary days.
The thing I’ve learned is that what I miss the most over time is remembering the everyday, ordinary things we used to do. The toy my son was obsessed with at the time. The breakfast I looked forward to every morning. The music my little one danced to, etc. The simple, everyday things are the first things to leave my memory. It’s because they are not monumental. We barely pay any attention to them. They happen every day so their effect has dulled.
But they are so extraordinary because they are artifacts of a specific time in our lives. And capturing them in film allows us to freeze that memory so we can hold on to it forever. So, years from now, we can smile as we remember the fondness of that time. So we can allow it to transport us back to the past and re-live it for just a moment. Remember the smell of my son. The words he mispronounced. The troubles I thought I had at the time and the joys of our then everyday lives. Photographs can work magic like that.
So, today, I challenge you to capture more of your days. More of your ordinariness. I know it feels like a burden to take the photos, to download them, process them, etc. Just make it easy on yourself. Take them at a certain time everyday. Say 10am. Or 8am. or 6pm, whatever works for your schedule. Whenever your life is most ordinary. And then download them only once a week. Don’t process them. Don’t show them to anyone else if you’re worried about them not being “perfect.” But take them anyway. And save them.
Years later, when all these people who might have “commented” on the quality of your photos are long gone, you will be so very glad you have the memories. I promise you, it will be worth it.
Just give it a try.
The following is cross-posted from the Weekly Gratitude Blog. I will post there every Tuesday and decided to post those posts here, too. For those of you who read both blogs, I apologize in advance. Some weeks the content might be different and other weeks, exactly the same.
I have done the POTD for the first time this year and along with the “my life in the week” 2008 and 2010 they are some of my favourite photos.
We never know when our lives will change, never know when the last time will be.
The years do rush by and when you look again they are teenagers and life is totally different in many respects.
I love this post and need to remember to be more present and involved in all these moments that make up my life.
Thank you for reminding me of how precious these moments are. In fact, I owe you one thousand thank yous because apart from providing me with fantastic inspiration from your amazing layouts, you have given me plenty of food for thoughts. Your words arrived at the right time and made a difference. Take care and please continue sharing with us. Sophie
thank you so much for this. it, in return, made me feel better and lifted my spirit today!!
I’ve been trying to capture more of the ordinary, mainly because I would have loved to have seen what my Mom’s bedroom looked like. Or her favorite shoes. Or what they were having for dinner. So, I go ahead and let my family chuckle at me as I take these “goofy” photos. But when I am long gone and looking down from heaven, I hope to hear my kids glad to be showing their kids what their room looked like, and what birthday cake they had that year. And how many tomatoes they harvested on 8.10.2010!
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