A thousand words

7/22/10 Over a dozen photographs, given away

Of the many downsizes I've completed over the last year, the type that has generated the strongest personal response has been discarded photographs.

I've done a number of picture downsizes, but I had a span of five days back in April (one, two, three, four, five) when I went on a tear, viciously ripping old photo albums apart and tossing the majority of the contents.

Honestly, I kept enough pictures that it wasn't hard for me to recycle or give away many more. I mean, how many pictures of Marc, Chris, and Jason backpacking in the woods do I really need? I get it: we had good times in Shenandoah National Park.

But for some readers of the blog, it was really tough to hear that I would part with pictures. One colleague of mine told me many times, "Oh, I just could never do that. I couldn't get rid of my pictures." Even my own mother expressed great concerns about my disparaging remarks regarding sentimentality.

This all points to the fact that the things we possess also, at times, possess us.

I do want to keep pictures from those great hiking trips with Marc, Chris, and Jason (and I DID), but I don't want those pictures to replace my memories and feelings about those adventures. In a way, each picture I gave up was an affirmation of the deep connection I still have to those good times. I don't need all the pics, I still have the experience.

Today, I discovered, in the door cubbie of my car, several envelopes of pictures I no longer needed. I'd actually wondered where these had gone to. I'd set them aside when I cleared out my photo album, but had misplaced them. Today, I mailed them off -- with shockingly little emotion -- to others who might like to relive a fine memory or two.

Hopefully, they won't hold on to the pictures long before they downsize them as well.

Hold onto the memories, Dear Readers, but let some of the photographs go. You don't need them.