I have almost 65,000 photos saved on my "smart phone"! They showcase family, friends, travels, and adventures over my lifetime. How often do I look at them? Periodically, I go back to a certain time or event to Re-Member the people who are no longer present -- reconnecting and being grateful for how their lives shaped mine. At times I want to Re-Enjoy an area of the world I spent vacation time -- recalling the beauty of distant lands, peoples, and cultures.
These photos are a glimpse of how I have seen and experienced my life and those who have shared theirs with me. I am sure you have similar ways to Re-Live your life!
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| What do you see? (Photo: Ceramic Tile - Larry Gardepie) |
What is interesting about these photos, though, is how my Mind's Eye has changed over time -- that is, the perspective of viewing earlier stages of Life. Looking at one photo I might wonder what was so important that I wanted to capture and save that image! A piece of tile with wavy lines turns into an eye if it is framed in a certain way.
Childhood photos with my first film-camera portray childhood perspectives -- and reveal my height at the time! With film-cameras we had to be judicious on how many photos we could take -- film was expensive and we didn't know if the image would turn out the way we expected. I remember being more careful in what to capture and imprint.
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| How do you see the world? ~ ~ Click on image to enlarge ~ ~ (Photo Credit, Pearls Before Swine, August 25, 2023 - Stephan Pastis) |
Now, with digital cameras and "smart phones," we can take as many photos as the memory can hold -- and we can instantly delete images that are blurry or didn't turn out as we had hoped.
Time, perspective, capturing and deleting -- all are caught in these 65,000 images saved in a "Cloud" somewhere!
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| How do you want to be seen? (Photo credit: downloaded from Facebook - Anonymous) |
What does this have to do with dialogue, you might ask? Everything! Our mind's eye captures countless images and thoughts throughout the day -- filtered through time and perspective; captured and remembered in the reality of our relationships and beliefs.
Problems we face, though, in this fast-paced world: we no longer wait for the image (or thought) to be fully developed; we assume we know the outcome; and we don't always take time to talk through what we saw, heard or experienced. That is, we don't reflect on and delete those encounters that are blurry -- those distortions that harm our relationships.
Just think... If I have almost 65,000 stored photos of family, friends, travels, and adventures, I wonder:
- How many other memories have been stored?
- Which stories and conclusions need to be revisited?
- Am I willing to delete what is blurry and abnormal?
A question we might consider this week: how can our stored perspectives be moved from Abnormal to Extraordinary?
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