explore.

There was a time it would have been almost impossible to find me in a photograph. How about you? Sometimes it's just easier that way. We hide behind the camera, snapping away at everything and everyone but ourselves.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of helping many families organize their photos into meaningful albums. Most of the time the stories are happy and polished. Sometimes though, families come to me with broken stories. Stories of grief and loss. I was particularly touched by one story of loss - perhaps it's because she was a wife and mother living a life very similar to my own. As I sifted through thousands of photographs, I was struck by the fact that this wife and mother was not only taking pictures, she was in them. Many of them. Can you imagine how precious those photographs would now be to her husband and young children?

As difficult as this may be, allow someone else to take your picture. Use a tripod to capture special moments when noone else is around. Try taking a self-portrait. Experiment. Explore.

Journaling Ideas: Photos are one dimensional and therefore only tell part of the story. Journaling lends insight into your personality, dreams, and desires. How would you describe yourself? What are your interests? How have they changed over the years? What are you passionate about? What bugs you? What do you want people to remember about you? What values, dreams, or goals are important to you?