Family Albums

Family albums are a great way to preserve moments from the past or present that are truly special to one's life, which is why I have a huge collection of family albums. It is not spectacular but it takes me back to moments that mean a lot to me. It could be simple, like a day out with my friends, a shopping event, a new dish that I tried out or a day out with my son. It is just a way of awakening to the fact that every day is a new beginning to do something differently and experience it differently.

When I was growing up, my dad took a camera with him everywhere we went. Our home was full of albums with photos that Dad clicked right from the day I was born. There's me flashing a toothless smile, there's me trying to walk, there's me looking displeased about something, there's me having spilled something, so many beautiful moments that I can go back to anytime I want.

My dad says its the best way to stand back in time and see your babies again and relate to that very moment. Like I always do, my dad is my god and I think I follow him in a lot of things.

Everywhere I go, I take my camera. I dont want to lose moments. I want to savor my life. I want to know that every little joy has been detailed visually too. I want to love each moment, embrace it with greed and experience what it was like again and again and again.

One of my Twitter friends posted this, "Realize deeply that the present moment is all we ever have." - Eckhart tolle

To me, that sounds like a good reason to cherish family albums. Every moment in the present slips into the past. We need to honor and respect many moments that come and go.

A good way to start is to maintain and update a good photo album. I like to keep mine in hard copy so that at the end of the day, I can browse through them and relive moments that I really want to. It is like going back in time and revisiting that exact moment.

When I look at old snapshots, I see myself in a new light and how I've changed from one moment to another, not just in the way I look but in a lot of other things too, that make me who I am.

"The only way that you can ever know if something is of value to you is by the way it feels as you are receiving it” is what Abraham/Esther Hicks said. When you take out your family album and pore through old snapshots, I think you will understand exactly what they meant.

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