Why It's So Important To Snap Every Photograph You Can

Why It's So Important To Snap Every Photograph You Can

This week, I did something archaic, something I rarely do anymore: I had pictures printed. 

We live in a world where it seems every moment of our lives are documented, our phones capturing photos for Instagram, selfies, and videos of life-changing moments and normal moments. However, over the years, I've found my scrapbook pages empty, picture frames sitting bare, and physical photographs being a rarity. 

Today, though, I got my packet of pictures in the mail. I printed pictures from the past decade and even beyond, gathering all the files from my computer. I discovered that there's something about physical pictures you lose on your phone. I flipped through the memories, the moments that have made my life, and I couldn't help but smile.

Most of all, I realized how happy I am that I or a family member snapped all of those moments. I'm happy we forced the family to pose, that I made us stop and pause for a minute to capture the moment, big or small.

Flipping through pictures of small moments and big moments, I realized that these are the moments that have defined me. These are the moments of smiles and of love. At the time, I didn't realize these moments would be so important. For some of them, they felt like just another regular day. Now, though, with the passage of time, I've come to appreciate how every moment, every smile, every memory becomes so important. 

These are moments I would have overlooked in my memory bank or not even remembered. Moments at a local park on an autumn day with my parents, laughing in our ponchos on the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls. Pictures of Chad and I at a picnic before we were married,  pictures of Henry hanging out in the backyard.

Life is not always about the flashy moments or once-in-a-lifetime travels. We don't need photographs to remember those. Life is about the people we share our moments with. It's about the smiles in our hometown, it's about the regular moments of family, of fun, and of love. It's about the moments that seem so small but really, in the scheme of things, become so big.

These are the moments we need to remember. These are the moments that we will someday look back at and smile.

So next time you think about setting the camera down and walking by a moment, don't.

Next time your kids are jumping around and the dog is barking and you think, "Is this picture really worth it?" Know that it is.

Next time you feel embarrassed about asking everyone to pose or you think that a moment can't be that important to take a photo of, take the photo anyway.

And the next time you're having just an average day at home with your loved ones, know you should take the photograph. 

Our lives go by so fast, and we don't always realize that they're blurring right on past us. But the photographs of our memories, big and small, sometimes are the reminder we need to slow down, to smile, and to be thankful for the beautiful life we've been given.

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