Photos you’d regret NOT taking
When Steven and I were running errands on Sunday, we saw something that made us laugh and Steven asked if I wanted him to drive by it so I could take a picture.
“Nah,” I told him. “That’s not something I’d regret not taking a picture of.”
“What is?”
I was quick to respond – “Mostly nature stuff.”*
Stuff like this:
Those are photos I’d regretted not taking. I still think about the time I drove past this park in the early am and there was a beautiful fog over the lake, and I didn’t stop to take a picture. I keep hoping it will happen again, but it hasn’t yet.
I ran across an interesting article* (pdf here) about how baby boomers (born between 1946-1964) are starting to clean out their homes, and that their millennial age (born between 1980-2000) children don’t want their hand-me-down furniture, family heirlooms, or memorabilia.
“Millennials are living a more transient life in cities. They are trying to find stable jobs and paying off loans. They are living their life digitally through Instagram and Facebook and YouTube, and that’s how they are capturing their moments. Their whole life is on a computer; they don’t need a shoebox full of greeting cards.”
Interesting, right? Getting a bit off topic here, but the article hypothesizes that baby boomers were collectors, who enjoyed the hunt, and that while millennials were raised in the “collect-’em-all culture” (like Beanie Babies and Happy Meal toys), they’ve mostly been able to find what they want on eBay, and don’t have the space for all that stuff in their small city homes, anyway. They’d rather collect memories, than items.
It’s a huge generalization, and I know many millennials who do NOT fit that description. I know millennial collectors. And I am a millennial and have no desire to live in the city. I do HIGHLY value my digital collections, but I still have a box full of, yes, greeting cards, that mean something to me.
But getting back on track, in the article, one of the people interviewed called himself a “digital hoarder,” saying, “If I can’t store my memories of something in a computer, I’m probably not going to keep them around.”
Now, that doesn’t 100% describe me, because, like I said, I still keep tangible memorabilia around, but I am definitely a digital hoarder. My digital photo library is crazy huge. And I access it daily. Yes, referencing the older photos, too.
Capturing photos of moments I want to remember is incredibly important to me. Writing down those memories on this blog is important too. Sharing them on social media (I use Facebook), isn’t highly important to me, but I still do it from time to time (more on my blog page, than personal page).
I was listening to a podcast where the host and his interviewee talked about how people need to stop taking so many dang photos and just enjoy the moment. I see what they are saying. You go to National Monuments, or a sporting event, or a concert, or whatever, and people are taking photos the whole time (and you always presume it’s so they can immediately post it on social media to proclaim how interesting they are for doing what they are doing, AT THAT VERY MOMENT). You do wonder if they are experiencing ANYTHING.
But I don’t think we should go so far in the other direction to not take ANY photos (which is what they were saying on this podcast). Like I said, I’d regret not capturing those. And yes, part of the reason I did take these rainbow photos was to share it with people – I wanted to share my joy in seeing it. But I also wanted the photo for me. And I ran with a huge smile on my face after I saw it, while I could see it during my run, and for the rest of my run.
*And family/group photos too. Yeah, they are staged, but I like them. I like to see them, and remember why we were together.
Themocracy
I have a box full of greeting cards too 🙂 And letters from my Grandma from when I first moved to Chicago. They’re mostly full of trivial stuff (like gardening, talk of what she was baking that week, etc.) but I love being able to look back on those.
I’ve been really bad about taking any pictures for the past year or so, and I do miss being able to look back on what I’ve been doing. I guess I have been living more in the moment, but like you, I like to be able to SEE that moment again after the fact!
Hee hee, my letters from my Grandma are like that, too! Did you get recipes sent to you, as well? 🙂
I have thought about scanning that stuff in. That is a project I would enjoy. But I’d have to set it up so it was easy to flip through on the computer!
It’s good you’ve been living in the moment! And you’ve been sharing lots of cool pics! 🙂
No, my grandma would always make me write out a copy of her recipes when I’d visit – she didn’t want to do that herself, apparently LOL. But my mom occasionally mails me a recipe she cut out of the newspaper.
I used to have a shoebox full of greeting cards, and I’m still terrible about recycling the ones I get (I usually hold onto them for months before tossing them). I felt so bad throwing them away! Someone bought them for me and sent it to me! But they were just taking up space, and I never did anything with them. Since space is at a premium in my apartment, they had to go. Sad day!
As for photo taking, however, I don’t think the idea of taking photos wherever you are is exactly a new phenomenon, and I’d be surprised if everyone took photos JUST for the sake of posting them on social media. My family took plenty of trips when I was younger, and I’d bet there were just as many people taking pictures at Mt. Rushmore in 2003–way before social media, WAY before smartphones–as there are taking pictures at Mt. Rushmore in 2015. I rabidly documented so many of family vacations with photos (FILM photos at that!), and the only place those photos went were my scrapbook. Even today, when I went to Baltimore/DC in late May, I bet I took WELL over 100 photos in the three days I was there. I think five of them made it to social media, maybe 10 if you count my blog as “social media.” I took them because I was excited to be there and wanted to remember the sights, not to show off to everyone where I was. All these darn crotchety Baby Boomers just want to criticize us kids for not being them 😛
I hold on to them for too long, too. I’ve been trying to only keep the really cute/funny (or really meaningful) ones, but what’s the point? Ha ha. I do cut the fronts of some and donate them to those organizations that make them in to “new” cards.
Ha ha, no, taking photos and documenting life is NOT new. At all. My point is about the people you see walking around these places with their camera (usually, phone, or WORSE – tablet!) in front of them THE ENTIRE TIME. I am sure you saw that in DC, as well. They seriously NEVER put it down. This happened at the Milky Chance concert – people recorded the whole thing. I bet you saw people like that at Lolla, too!
So interesting, and i think there is a lot of merit to the hypothesis. I mean, it’s not like I DON’T have things, but I sure as heck prize my digital albums and love love love documenting all of my experiences / travels / events and adding those pics to the (digital) stash. And like you, I access them all the time! I LOVE going back through old albums, and old blog posts, to remember all the fun stuff I’ve done.
I used to spend a LOT of time making photo albums (and for a while, super involved scrap books!) with all of the printouts from my [film] photos. Then when I went digital, I went for years with only online albums. But I’ve now reverted back a little bit – I really like creating photobooks (using all the neat online software so accessible now) to print out books of special events, like my honeymoon or our trip to Mauritius, and I page through those physical books all the time too.
So maybe we millennials don’t hoard the physical memories AS much, and for sure we have far far more digital media than the baby boomers, but I think most of us can appreciate both 🙂
You summed it up perfectly! We’re just different, and probably (derrrr) because of the tools we have!!!! 🙂
My snister makes a lot of those digital books on shutterfly and I think they’re so neat! I go the really cheap route and use GrooveBook, but enjoy flipping through those as well 🙂 I DO wonder if scrapbooking is dying down at all! I’ve always enjoyed seeing those as well (never made them, but friends have).
Very interesting thoughts! I’m always trying to pare down excess stuff and clutter – and paper is high on that list! (I get annoyed because Adam still gets paper invoices and statements snail-mailed to him instead of e-docs emailed to him.) So I am all about digital photographs in general. Since they are so easily manipulated and stored, I tend to take a lot of them during the moment. Then I just delete them later if I change my mind. My mindset is that I’d rather have more of them versus not enough with later regrets!
Ha ha, that is funny! Do you think he will go digital with the bills? I get SO frustrated at all the junk mail I receive. And sadly, most of it is from charities I donated to once or twice. Anyway. That’s easy to shred and recycle.
Do you download and delete right away? I try to download the days pics each day, and get rid of the ones I don’t want to keep, then.
Your nature captures are awesome 🙂 I like to snag those kind of memories too. The rainbow is beautiful. It’s funny I was born in 66 and I don’t have much old stuff. Just pictures, books, a box of cards, and some of son’s school work, but even that I tried to weed out. I always felt like you can’t keep everything. My husbands mom kept everything and it was fun to see some of the old stuff she had, but my father in law decided one day it needed to go and cleaned most out. Some days I wish I had kept more! and some days I am glad I don’t have to go through and pick. I do like experiences more than collecting stuff. If I can go do something it makes me happy.
Thanks 🙂
Good for you for being a purger 🙂 And I am happy your FiL got rid of that stuff so you don’t have to do it. What do you wish you had kept, though?
Interesting! I think about this a lot actually — I’m definitely what that article describes: a millennial who doesn’t want all her parents’ stuff. (OMG there is so much stuff.) I’d rather document my life and keep it in one space or “in the cloud.” But then, isn’t that just another form of collecting?
I worry sometimes that I spend too much time trying to document a moment, rather than living it, but for the most part, I’m glad that I have spend the time keeping track of vacations and everyday moments. So it’s worth it. Plus, I don’t *feel* like I’m living my life behind a lens/screen, so I guess that’s what matters overall. (Then again, I just read in the NYT how Benedict Cumberbatch asked the audience of his shows not to take photos/video during his live performance of “Hamlet.” And I was thinking, “Geez, do these people need to have evidence that they saw BC so much that they can’t just enjoy his show???” That’s what I would call over-documenting/not living.)
It’s totally another form of collecting – you’re that digital hoarder too! LOL.
That BD thing is similar to what happened at the concert I went to. The artist actually asked the audience to put their phones away and enjoy the moment. I get taking a photo of the theater, you there with your partner, and maybe ONE during the show (like it’s gonna show up, right?!) but what more do you need?! That is enough to remember where the hell you were! LOL.
Over the years I’ve tried to declutter my “collections” because I was once (ok, still am-who am I kidding) a hoarder. BUT…I do still have a couple shoe boxes filled with special things. One box is filled with letters from my husband when he was deployed in Afghanistan, and I add cards that he’s given me to the box. The other is filled with photos-actual photos, and cards, pics, and letters I just can’t part with. I even have a letter and card that my Mom gave me when I was in high school.
GREAT nature photos. I too, have a couple times I had so wished I had pulled over to capture a photo, but didn’t. Now, I stop. 🙂 Great post, Kim.
I think it’s good to go through and declutter from time to time! Besides, that is when you review this stuff, anyway! 🙂 Otherwise, it does just sit there. I have small boxes of similar stuff, too 🙂
I am happy you stop! 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
I agree with you: I don’t get people who take TONS of pics but my in-laws take zero pics, and I feel like if there are none, I won’t always remember the event/view whatever. Plus seeing pics spurs memories.
My 14-year old hangs onto nothing while my 10 year old is a total hoarder.
Exactly. There is a nice medium. Like with everything in life, lol!
Interesting that they are so different! Who is picking up what from whom? 😉
Wow, those are gorgeous pictures!!
I’ve never been one to keep greeting cards, but I LOVE photos. I’m probably one of the last of our generation to actually have prints made, but I do it. At the end of the year, I have prints made from some of the highlights of the year and just some of my favorite photos and put them in an album. Each year gets its own album. There’s just something so much more nostalgic about flipping through the pages rather than clicking through the images.
What a fun project!!!! I love that you do that! 🙂