And as we sat there talking, I thought, this is so good. What if I hadn’t left my home tonite? What if I had just sat and wallowed in my my grief and frustration from my day? What if I had decided to just get back to work instead of taking a break? What if?
Sometimes we need a breath of fresh air. Sometimes what we really need is to walk away and gain a new perspective.
And as we’re sitting there I think, darn, I should have brought my camera.
And then, since I was already in a pensive frame of mind, I realized, you know what? It’s okay that I didn’t. I don’t always have to capture every single moment. Sometimes I just need to be able to just live.
Scrapbooking has done a number on me. When you work in the industry, it can take over your life, and you have to be careful what all you let it grab hold of. It’s great to want to capture my family in photos and to want to get stories down on paper so I don’t forget. The problem comes when I become so obsessed with documenting life that I quit living it.
Had I brought my camera, I wouldn’t have been cuddling my son or having a conversation with my husband…a conversation both of our hearts needed to have. Had I brought my camera I would have snapped pictures of a moment, but the moment would have been vastly different.
I vaguely remember a line by Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan that speaks to this. Matt Damon is talking about the last time he saw his brothers and Tom Hanks starts to mention a memory with his wife and then he stops, looks at them and says, “No, that one is just for me.”
Sometimes it’s okay for memories to be just memories. And it’s even okay for those memories to just be ours. Sometimes living needs to win out over documenting.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
So very poignant and so very true. Thanks for adding that perspective. I sat at my computer the other night and I just couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t seem to move either. I was just sat there staring and then I realised I had to walk away and gain a new perspective. I took an evening and the rest of the next day off and it worked. I needed that time off. I love what you said about the memories as well… thanks for sharing this insight. xoxo
thanks for sharing mandy! it is good to be able to walk away (how nice it would be to have a beach to go to so close to home). quality time with hubby and children are always good!!!