Of Pictures and Memories
A closer look at my Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin feeds will probably give you the hint that I love pictures, and I’m not denying that fact. I remember a former colleague once asked me why can’t I be camera-shy.
Unfortunately, my genetic composition or whatever composition responsible was not built to be, and I’m proud of that.
I was looking for a picture I took from the window view of a plane in the sky when I found this gorgeous photograph of me on the beach. Staring at the picture, I tried to remember the events that led to that picture and after that, it was satisfying to take a trip down memory lane. I remember I was a naive young lady who had only recently stepped into the waters of corporate employment and was running on “Elijah Level” A song by Gaise Baba
Pictures have a way of storing up memories and emotions, and also helping you to relive those memories whenever you are ready. When I say pictures, I’m not talking about taking pictures and uploading them on your social media pages, I’m talking about taking pictures for yourself and storing them up just for yourself.
Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” — Marc Riboud
As much as I like to think of myself as an extrovert, I still struggle to post every picture of myself or anything else on my social media pages primarily because I want to savor the moments alone, and also because I want to take some of my secrets to the grave. Whatever that means 😂 😂
You can be an introvert and still take pictures of yourself, of moments, memories, events, and anything. I know you might not feel comfortable with the thought of going out but when you do, take as many pictures as possible.
Most times when I don’t feel good about myself, I take a trip down to my archive to look through the good and bad days when I took a picture of myself or something else. I would have said to only take pictures when you are in a good mood, but I’m learning that life is not a complete bed of roses and there will be thorns just as there are roses.
You will ask me, what do you stand to gain if you took pictures of yourself or events around you?
Well, you stand to gain nothing and you also stand to lose nothing other than amazing memories that would have reminded you of the seasons of your life and your journey.
For instance, I’ve caught myself trying to remember the dress I wore at my last birthday or the last time I saw my friend, but I struggled because life had happened between that time and now which makes it impossible for me.
If I had taken as little as a selfie of myself, it would have helped me to remember what I wore. Pictures can be likened to journaling down important memories of your life that you don’t want to forget.
I am not asking you to take pictures of everything that happens to you or write down your entire life journey, but try your best to use these tools to preserve memories and experiences for yourself, your future self, and your future family if you want one.
Pictures remind us of what is possible and achievable.
I hope with these words of mine, I’ve been able to convince you to start taking pictures and archiving memories as well.
If you enjoyed what you just read, click the clap icon, the maximum clap is 50, this way you are recommending this story to other readers on Medium, and you can also drop a comment.
