šø
Sometimes I carry a digital camera with a big lens but you don't have to do that. A phone camera works fine. Some people nowadays feel ashamed when taking photos, and I think that's sad. Yes, photos can be curated highlight reels of your life that take you out of an individual moment to capture it, but that's okay. People curate their perceived lives all the time, by what they talk about in conversation, what they wear in front of certain people, what they write about for interviews. And capturing a moment for future memory can be worth a slight step out. Itās powerful to create your identity and remember your past.
Jul 16, 2024
Related Recs
šø
Without sounding like a bitter luddite, I miss the days of people capturing moments for the sake of remembering, not sharing with strangers. We all have childhood VHS footage and disposable photos of seemingly mundane moments at family BBQs, birthday parties, vacations, etc, but in the iPhone age most of our photos are taken with the intention of posting. This is a crucial difference, for me at least, so I recommend getting a camera not because it takes better photos than your phone, but because it'll remind you to capture more regular slices of life.
Jan 5, 2023
I used to be the person who always had their phone out taking photos and videos of EVERYTHING. I loved it so much because I could look back on any single day in my camera roll and just know what trouble I had that gotten into that day.
Some people say you aren't living in the moment if you have your camera out, but I beg to differ. There were so many small moments that I would have forgotten if I hadn't photographed them, and therefore I hold a lot more appreciation for the small moments in life. I feel like it made me realize how life is not as mundane as it seems, and that I do a lot more with my days than my brain can recall on instant.
I'm not sure why, but I stopped doing that over the past few years. I am trying to get in the habit of documenting my life again, and I think more people should too!
Feb 13, 2025
i went through my instagram and looked at all the posts and all the slides and wow, my friends all look so happy. i miss being the person who takes a million photos because i captured so many happy moments. that side of me still comes out in certain friend groups but theese days i feel like i have less inclination of reach for my camera. some people say it's living in the moment but for me part of living in the moment is the craving to capture it. people criticise social media for only showing the good parts of life, and i absolutely get that, but it's fun to look at when it's yours and you forget how whimsical and lovely life can be sometimes.
lot of yap to say that i love taking photos and i adore my friends but it's par for the course at this point <3
Feb 17, 2025
Top Recs from @coldhealing-1
šæ
Another way to generate identity in the present and help you remember your life in the future. It helps that I fixate on individual songs and listen to them multiple times a day, so I enjoy listening to short playlists with the songs I like at the present moment in time. Iāve been doing this since April 2018, and in some ways it feels like my life started then. I can pull up to any month since then and listen to songs that bring it back. In May 2019 I was living in my parentsā sunroom right after I graduated college and listening to Mitskiās cover of Letās Get Married a lot because it felt so clean and soft.
Jul 16, 2024
āļø
I love all three Lorde albums, but Solar Power is my favorite. It got a lot of hate when it came out, and I'm worried she might disown it when she drops her next album, so I want to take a stand now that this album is good. It traces such interesting critical lines between 60s/70s hippie culture and 2010s/2020s Instagram wellness culture while still holding its own optimistic and fresh natural wellness. And Lorde's affection for her home island New Zealand is inspiring.
Jul 16, 2024
š½
Peoria is my hometown. Itās the jewel city of the Illinois River, situated at its widest point, with big bluffs on either side of the river. This segment of the Illinois River is the site of the oldest European settlements in Illinois, but before that, Native Americans inhabited it too. They called this land by the river āpimiteouiā, which roughly translates from Miami-Illinois to English as āit burns pastā. The wet land near the river but below the river bluffs was protected from prairie wildfires, leaving forests that have always been safe and green. I spent a lot of time hiking in them. Peoriaās country club is on a long street at the top of the bluffs, with views down to the river and the forests. In 1910 when Teddy Roosevelt was in the backseat of a car on the way to that country club he described the road as the āworldās most beautiful driveā, and I think thatās true. A river valley is where mankind started, and itās still all we need. This is a recommendation for my hometown but also for yours.
Jul 16, 2024