52 Weeks 500 Words
This is how it began: Justine (not her real
name) decided to write 500 words (or as near as), anything goes, per week for 52
weeks. She would then submit it for anonymous posting, via me, her friend.
Perhaps a pattern will emerge from her words, but at this stage it’s more an
experiment I have agreed to share in. I’ll attempt to draw conclusions at the
end of this. Stay tuned if this resonates with you.
Week 37
"Have you looked at your old photographs recently? The photos
from the days of your film camera, those spools you saved up for and then
developed when you could afford it? How much easier the digital age is when it
comes to photos! Although, let us admit, having tangible pictures in an album
or a box somewhere has far more value than a host of files on a computer. Those
of you who have never been in that place, have been taking photos with a
digital camera from the start of your recording instincts, cannot understand
this. It isn't wrong; your journey is merely different.
I did it a while ago. I hauled out boxes of photos and spent
hours going through them. Yes, if you remember, this was an attempt to create
order from chaos, to put everything into a niche for ease of future reference.
Most of them are now ‘sorted’ but it isn't yet finished. This, though, isn't
the focus of my post.
I smiled over images of times gone by, laughed, cried a bit
too, and the strangest thing is how viewing a photo is able to take you right
back to the moment. I could smell the surroundings as my fingers caressed the
shiny substance, and I could hear the noises at the time, I could feel the
emotions of the one taking the picture. It was so real, it did cause smiles,
laughter and tears, because I was again there. This is the beauty of an old
photograph. Memory is the strangest thing. We never really forget anything, but
the layers of life do tend to obscure them after a while. With concerted effort
we may drag a pertinent memory from our recesses, but it is an effort in most
cases. Something like hypnosis may bring it out faster, but as I've never been
hypnotised, I can’t comment.
A photo is memory. The visual can nudge us into a time
passed and we are again, for a few moments, right there. It is magic, in my
opinion, the magic of our souls, because we never do forget. Sometimes we just
need a bit of a nudge. A digital image, of course, is also a photo and a
memory, and yet I find it doesn't quite achieve the same result. It isn’t tangible.
Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s as if the thing in your hands creates sensations that
travel along your nerves to your memory banks. Perhaps I’m being fanciful!
I love my old photos whether organised or now, and in a year
or so I’ll go back to remember. It is not the past I seek, though, for we
should not live in the past. It’s the ability to remember. We are after all
formed of all those moments. I had some really good moments, and I don’t want
to ever forget them.
Go on, haul out your stash and see what happens for you." J
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