Considering the fact that I am snowed in and trapped in my own house with nothing to do, I figured I would reminisce. So, I opened up my digital file cabinet and pulled up “Group Photos” so I can temporarily glimpse into my past and wax nostalgic.

I am very much a picture person. To me, a photograph is a snapshot in time, so being able to glimpse at these moments of your past whenever you desired is, to me, like having a doorway to your own past.

Glimpsing at these moments in my past got me thinking just how important, amazing – and necessary photographs can be.

I’ll bet you that for a grillion dollars – you couldn’t tell me every single moment of your life up to this point. Basically, there are some moments in our lives that we forget – but if you have a photograph of one of those moments – it comes right back to you when you look at it once again. It’s like you are looking at your past and can almost re-live it even if you look at it only for a brief moment.

Besides being able to bring you back to a moment in time – it also makes you think about the people you are gazing at in that picture. The people that are next to you smiling with their arms around you were important people in your life at that particular moment. For when you took that picture – you know that at that moment, you were taking it with someone who meant enough to you at that point in your life that you were willing to be photographed with them. So what happened to those people in that photo? Do you still talk to them? Are they still that special in your life? Do you still talk to them? – Do you miss them?

Besides the emotional marker, photographs can also be a marker in time. Go get a picture of yourself from only a few years ago. Now, after you make fun of the way you look – remember for a moment where you were in your life when you took that shot. I don’t mean where you were in a physical sense – but in a developmental one – and now think about how far you have come from “way back then”.

Many of my friends think I’m crazy – but there has not been one party I have held in a long time where I did not whip out my camera. And not only does that annoy my friends, but so does when I ask them to all stand together for, what has been nicknamed “Paul’s Group Photo”. To me, the best photo to take is one of the entire group of people that you were with at the time that photo was taken. In doing so, you have the chance to not only look at the photo and remember the night – but remember why all of those people were together that one night and what an amazing group of friends you had at that moment in your life.

No matter how long my life lasts or where it takes me, I will always take the photographs and still frames of my life. They make great pictures, great time markers – and great memories.

“So take the photographs and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good times.
Tattoos and memories of dead skin on trial.
Through what it’s worth, it was worth all the while.
It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life.”
Green Day – Time Of Your Life