There was a commercial back in the 70’s and 80’s for Kodak. The Kodak commercial depicted how taking photographs of life events represented the “Times of Our Lives.” Kodak really made the commercial hit home when they accompanied the video with a song from Paul Anka called the “Times of Our Lives.” I remember as a kid always stopping to watch the commercial and how even until this day when I hear that song I have flashbacks of the Kodak commercial. I even googled it and on Youtube there is a copy of the very old commercial. Watching the video made me realize how far we have come with photography and memorializing the Times of our lives. Memories are at our fingertips and so accessible.
I love pulling out my box of albums and old pictures of my youth, school and family gatherings. In general as time moves on we forget details of memories and events. The magic of the pictures is that looking at them can bring back all of the memories and specific details that would be hard to remember otherwise. Let’s be real as we get older we forget a lot of details of our memories. Our history books are full of pictures that help us understand our history and bring those times to life and make them more concrete in our minds eye.
Today we have the beauty of our Smartphones so accessible to us. We can take a picture anywhere we are. We don’t have to have intent to take pictures or carry a camera around. Of course there are many people who love utilizing a professional camera to capture the moments. Technology, has made capturing memories so easy and accessible. I just purchased the newest IPhone and the camera is fantastic. The colors and the crispness of the photos are just breathtaking. I am so excited to really go out and snap away.
I am going to throw an idea out to you. Have you ever thought about Photography Therapy? Believe it or not your Smartphone or camera can be utilized as a form of Therapy. Right about now you are probably asking,”How?” Let’s start with the Selfie or group pictures. The pictures we take where our hair has to look perfect, our good side is facing the camera, your stomach is sucked in, you have lipstick on or you have that perfect posture when the camera is clicked. I know that we all do this to capture a get together, post a picture on social media or to capture a memory. This is great but in the process we lose a lot of the spontaneity of life. The youth of today have become so comfortable with showing spontaneity on Tik Tok, Be Real and Snapchat. How beautiful would it be if we could let our guard down and just let someone take a picture of us that is unexpected. Years from now when you pull that picture up you will get all the feels, thoughts and memories from that time because of the spontaneity of the picture. I was in Ireland some years back. We were at an archeological field full of three leaf clovers. The rain was really coming down so we had our mud boots on and raincoats. My daughter must have been about 12 and in the rain she was holding a three leaf clover and just looking down at it intently. With my very old Smart Phone I snapped a picture of her in that still moment. I still look at that picture and I can remember the rain, the cool air, the beautiful Kelly Green field of clovers but more importantly I captured the youth and innocence of her in that experience. If I didn’t have the photo I would remember the trip to the Clover Field but all the specifics would be a distant memory. Hence the magic of photography.
The key is to start to look at the world around you a little differently. There is beauty in the little things around us. Have you thought of taking a picture of an object, an empty street, your hand, a view through a window or maybe even a shadow. The idea here is to start to really look for the details in your environment. Things that we see beyond just a glance. Let me give you an example. I was in Hawaii and I saw these two trees. The original angle that I looked at the trees, they just looked like two ordinary trees. I changed my location and the way that my eyes focused on the trees and then there was true beauty for me to capture. By changing my view and the way I looked at the trees, things just came to life. My angle gave me a vision of the trees leaning towards each other almost as if they were hugging. Just below where the trees met in the middle, the glow of the sunsetting beamed through with the glisten of the setting sun on the ocean. I call this photo “Tree Huggers.” If you would like you can go to my Instagram account to see my “Tree Huggers” picture. Believe it or not this is a form of Therapy. Photography with intent is a great way to decrease your anxiety, stress levels, lift your mood, calm your mania or defocus from an obsessive thought process. In Photography Therapy you are creating a focussed intent to cope with these feelings, emotions and mental health issues. How fantastic is it that we have this source of Therapy right at our fingertips!
Photography Therapy will help you take control in those moments and give you a sense of control of your body and thoughts. Improving your Leisure Lifestyle and Activities are an important way to deal with life’s difficulties and emotional road blocks. We hear all the time how bad technology is so bad for us and our kids. This is a fact but technology can also be used as a Therapeutic Tool, if we use it the right way.
My Challenge to you is to pick up your smart phone and go out into your world and look for the uniqueness around. Snap picture after picture of spontaneity and the uniqueness of your world. Keep in mind that no matter where you are with your SmartPhone at your fingertips, you can decrease your anxiety, stress level, increase your mood and distract from an obsessive thought process by snapping a picture. Who knows you might even like photography so much it might even become a hobby of yours. Remember when you are at a family gathering or with friends don’t always pose for a picture, capture the laughter, the hugs and the wonder of taking a picture of real life.
I hope you take the Challenge in the next week and open up your mind to new and creative ways to improve on your mental health and the struggles you might be experiencing. The beauty of it is that you will have these amazing creative pictures that you can look at in years to come and have all of the memories flood back of that specific moment in time, “The Times of Your Life.”
POSITIVE THOUGHTS ALWAYS CREATE POSITIVE ENERGY
GO OUT AND EXPLORE ALL OF THE WIDE OPEN SPACES IN YOUR WORLD
CIAO, ALOHA, MAHOLO AND MERCI
ILISE
