Just Take the Dang Picture!

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Technology is such a double edged sword. On the one hand, it does amazing things to keep us connected like never before in human history; it enables us to gain information about any and everything under the son; it helps us chronicle all the big moments in our lives so that we never miss a memory. But do you ever feel like it’s…too much sometimes?

My mom tells me how different it is raising children now in the age of technology. From our very fingertips we can see family across the the country and even the globe in mere seconds! Our parents had to pay for long distance calls once a week and save all year to make a trip back home to see grandparents. We can Google anything and get almost immediate answers to all of our questions from “what’s this rash on my kids leg?” to “when is it time to seek early intervention for speech?” Our parents had to wait to make an appointment with the pediatrician or ask neighbors and family members if they were brave enough to do so. We take, store, and share literally thousands of pictures and videos of our little ones with the click of button. Our parents had to buy a camera (a luxury to some), be judicious about what pictures they took as to not waste film, and then wait weeks before film could be developed. And video wasn’t nearly as commonplace as it is today.

But all of this availability and accessibility may be having some unintended consequences. Feeling like you have to keep in touch with every. single. person. that is close in your life can be exhausting. Having access to too much information on Dr. Google can be confusing and extremely overwhelming. And my personal pet peeve and the thing I struggle with a ton is being able to take copious amounts of pictures and videos makes me keenly aware of how not photographically adept I am. My pictures are terrrrrrrrrrrrible and I never feel like they are “good enough” to post on social media or share with my loved ones.

I know there’s help out there and with a few simple tweaks I can find better lighting or whatever. I know there are tons of editing apps that are free and user friendly. I know. I know all of this. But that’s exhausting and #aintnobodygottimeforthat And even with the information, I just don’t think my mind works like that. I’m really not very artistic and just don’t have the vision to see that kind of thing to know what would make this frame look “better.” 

But then it dawned on me. Our parents didn’t have to do this. Most of them didn’t do gymnastics trying to find the perfect artsy angle to take of our first steps, and they surely weren’t taking detail shots of our first birthday party. They just pointed and shot whatever they could get trying not to miss the moments they were in. And have you ever flipped through your own photo albums from when you were little? Those pictures are definitely not Insta-perfect or Pinterest worthy. But they’re still such good pictures. Such good memories. I can still look at them and know what’s going on. The stories still come flooding back of what wacky hijinks we were up to back then.

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I find myself deleting so many pictures because they’re not “good enough.” Good enough to what? To post on social media? To win a Pulitzer? I’m trying to rewire my mind to say, “Who cares?!” When I look back on my children’s life in photos, I know I would much rather have a ton of pictures, period, than a few “good” ones. So, I’m trying really hard to force myself to do things that aren’t perfect. To just take the dang picture even if it isn’t captivating my “millions of followers.” (Ha! I can’t even write that with a straight face!) Because at the end of the day, those angel faces captivate this mama’s heart, and that’s really all that matters.

Happy Snapping!

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